381-386

Chapter 381: General Ling!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

From the time they had discovered the aerial invasion till now, two hours had elapsed unknowingly. The night was still very dark, and the enemy still had not been able to break through the defensive line of the ground forces. Meanwhile, the enemies who had just appeared had not made much impact due to the desperate resistance from all the special-class mecha of the Federation forces. The battle was once again mired in a deadlock.

The commander of the ground forces had grown numb in the face of wave after wave of casualty reports. He went from deep heartache to unfeeling numbness, because he himself had no idea whether he would share the same fate as many of these warriors, sacrificed in the battle on this planet ...

"Look, what's that up above ...?" A staff officer suddenly cried out in surprise. He was the one tasked with monitoring the battlefield, and right now, his eyes were riveted on the large screen on the wall of the command centre.

At this cry, the commander quickly raised his head from the mass of reports before him, and his eyes immediately noticed two radiant mecha almost bright enough to dazzle his eyes in the air above the dormitory district. That familiar form caused him to lose control and shout, "Godd*mmit! They actually dare to violate the terms of the joint declaration!"

Right then, on the battlefield, almost everyone had noticed the two mecha hovering in the air. The mecha's outer forms were just too large and bright — it was practically impossible to miss them. It was like someone had hit the pause button on the initially fierce battlefield; both sides stopped fighting in unplanned unison.

Imperial mecha were forbidden from appearing in regular battlefields, but now two had inexplicably appeared in the airspace above planet Newline. They stood tall and proud as they looked down on the battlefield below.

When the enemy fighters saw the emblem on the chests of the two imperial mecha, they instantly emitted an earth-shattering cheer. In contrast, the defensive troops of planet Newline, all of the Federation warriors including the academy instructors, were swamped by an emotion that felt a lot like despair.

Tang Yu had just destroyed an ace mecha when he heard the horrified gasps of the other instructors around him. And right after that, the entire battlefield descended into a kind of cold stillness. Bewildered, he lifted his head, and when he saw the two mecha hovering in the air, his pupils contracted, and his hands which had been busy operating his mecha stiffened ...

Tang Yu reflexively shot a glance at the dormitory district — he could almost see what the final fate of the people remaining here would be already. He suddenly thought of something and swiftly checked the location of his pet disciple Qiao Ting. Unexpectedly, he found that the other had already departed the range of the dormitory district and was heading into the depths of the military academy.

Tang Yu could not help but feel both shocked and delighted. Shocked that Qiao Ting had not obeyed his orders, acting on his own to leave the protected area ... if anything had happened, he would not have been able to rush over in time to help. Delighted because, even though Qiao Ting had disobeyed him, he had made a fortuitous mistake in leaving the dormitory district. Perhaps this way, he may have a chance of surviving.

Yes, Tang Yu did not believe that they would be able to survive the attacks of an imperial operator. It was foreseeable that anyone who remained in the dormitory district, whether it were soldiers or instructors, or even those students under the protection of the beam shield, would be unable to escape death in the end.

Having no other recourse, Tang Yu's gaze turned cold as he made an instant decision. He would lead all the instructors here and try their best to hold these two imperial mecha here as long as possible, giving Qiao Ting's group more time to run away.

The two imperial mecha saw that the entire battlefield had frozen for several seconds at their emergence, becoming deathly silent, and their hearts were filled with pride and satisfaction. They stared with cool disinterest down at the people below — the Huaxian ground forces and the ace operators in their ranks were like nothing more than ants in the imperial mecha's eyes.

At this moment, one of the imperial mecha asked the other tonelessly, "What have you found?"

"I see two batches of baby catfish 1 trying to meet up, hehe ..." the other imperial mecha suddenly cackled.

"Is it the target?" The imperial mecha who had first spoken could not help but raise an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. He did not expect to be so lucky, discovering their target right from the get-go.

" Most probably 2 . Those baby catfish are all trainee mecha of the academy. Two of them are even ace trainee mecha. They should be the two targets central command has assigned to us. Parker, I'll leave this end to you. I'll go handle those little catfish, and once I'm done, we can return." The other imperial mecha could not help but lick his lips in anticipation. Compared to being a humanoid cannon without any need for skill or technique, he still much preferred teasing baby catfish and having some fun.

"Don't go overboard." The imperial mecha which had first spoken could not help but warn the other. It seemed like the two imperial mecha had a good relationship.

"Chill, chill. When have I not completed a mission?" replied the other imperial mecha. Immediately after, he had operated his mecha to disappear into the night sky ...

Tang Yu, who had been closely observing the two imperial mecha all this time, saw one of them abruptly disappear and his heart clenched. "Where did he go?"

Before he could search for the other's tracks, the remaining imperial mecha suddenly drew a giant cylindrical weapon almost as tall as the mecha itself from behind it. Tang Yu's face changed drastically at the sight and he shouted, "Dodge!"

As an elite ace, Tang Yu had very comprehensive knowledge of the imperial mecha he would be using once he advanced. The weapon the opponent had brought out was precisely the most powerful and horrifying beam energy weapon imperial mecha had —— Line of Oblivion! As long as one was hit by the weapon, even an imperial mecha of the same level would only be able to survive by exhausting all of its power on its King Shield. Any mecha below imperial mecha absolutely could not survive a blow from this weapon. The only way to escape was to leave the attack range of the Line of Oblivion, which was why Tang Yu had immediately yelled out for his side to run.

"Boom!" The round cylinder in the imperial mecha's hands suddenly shot out a violet-black beam. At the moment it discharged, even a mecha as powerful as the imperial mecha could not keep its balance — the entire mecha was sent flying backwards; it was clear to see how powerful the kickback of this cannon was.

Thanks to Tang Yu's warning, all the Federation mecha in the air swiftly flew out of the trajectory of the beam. Still, even so, several mecha who did not react fast enough were grazed by the violet-black beam. Even this tiny bit of contact was enough for the power contained by the beam to blow these mecha apart, turning them into hunks of debris before being vaporized to disappear without a trace into the air.

This one shot of the imperial mecha's cannon had been targeting the armoured ground forces fighting against the enemy mecha. Just one shot, and a circular black space appeared right in the centre of the neat rectangular formation of the armoured troops. Those troops standing within the circle had been swallowed by a wave of black, similarly disappearing without a trace ...

"This is too horrific. We have no way of resisting this!" At the sight, one of the staff officers in ground command was unable to take the pressure and collapsed to his knees, wailing. Although imperial mecha were unable to determine the outcome of a battlefield outright like god-class mecha, the ground forces of the Federation which were already at a disadvantage just had no spare energy to resist against the enemy mecha anymore after receiving this devastating blow.

This spineless behaviour of the staff officer would normally have drawn the scorn and rebuke of others, but everyone in the command centre had been shocked dumb by this strike. The command centre was extraordinarily silent, desperation and despair spreading out like a shroud.

The imperial mecha saw that he had managed to wipe out almost one-sixth of the armoured ground forces with just one shot and nodded in satisfaction. "Truly impressive. This is the true value of us imperial operators ..."

After saying that, the imperial operator stabilised his mecha and raised the cylinder once more. This time, he was aiming for the area several li behind the armoured troops, the radiantly shining dormitory district ...

"What a great target!" The imperial operator licked in his lips excitedly. As long as he utterly destroyed that area, their mission would be half-completed. How funny that these Huaxians, thinking they were so smart, had created such a district-wide beam shield. This saved him a lot of effort, allowing him to find the target he wanted to hit so easily. It was just so bloody convenient.

Tang Yu, who had just led the instructors to evade the trajectory of the beam, saw where the cylinder was aimed at and could not help but cry, "Stop! Bastard!" He operated his mecha over in an attempt to prevent the attack, but it was already too late. The opponent pulled the trigger and another violet-black beam shot out from the cylinder ...

"Boom!" The violet-black beam struck the beam shield of the dormitory district without mercy. The beam shield shattered instantly, but the beam was not weakened significantly. In the next moment, it blasted its way into the dormitory district. Many buildings were immediately consumed by the violet-black beam, and one-tenth of the initially lovely and tranquil dormitory district was gone.

Witnessing this, tears formed in Tang Yu's fierce gaze. Right when the beam struck its target, he could almost see the cadets inside being vaporised in the spray of dust and ash, and his heart twisted with anguish.

"Ain't this place big ..." The imperial mecha grumbled, before once again lifting its cylinder to aim at the dormitory district, preparing to fire the second round of the Line of Oblivion.

"Stop, godd*mmit!" Tang Yu became frenzied. Without hesitation, he made his mecha leap towards the imperial mecha. Even though he knew this was suicidal, he just could not stand idly by and watch as the children died here ...

"How impudent!" The imperial mecha saw an ace mecha charging like a reckless fool at him, trying to stop him from firing the Line of Oblivion. Sneering, he pulled the trigger, sending another violet-black beam shooting out of the cannon to barrel towards Tang Yu's mecha ...

"Major Tang Yu!" the instructors all shouted in horror. Everyone there knew that as soon as the Line of Oblivion hit, Tang Yu was very unlikely to survive. Just as the violet-black beam was about to consume Tang Yu's mecha whole ...

With a loud "boom!" the violet-black beam was abruptly stopped in its tracks by a powerful wave of energy. The beam then quickly dissipated, and amazingly, Tang Yu's mecha reappeared completely undamaged. What in the world had happened?

Even Tang Yu himself was equally stunned and confused. He had charged forwards, ready to sacrifice himself, hoping that he could exhaust as much of the power behind the Line of Oblivion's attack as possible so that the dormitory district below would receive less damage. Unexpectedly, in that split second before he would have been struck by the attack, a pale blue beam had suddenly come from a distance to intercept the Line of Oblivion, saving him.

He instinctively looked in the direction where the pale blue beam had come from. In the night sky above, a mecha was flying here at high speed. A few seconds later, the mecha appeared before everyone's eyes ...

Tang Yu teared up when he saw this mecha. Like a bullied child who had finally caught sight of a dependable adult, he could not help but cry out, "General Ling!"

Tang Yu had shouted this through his mecha's loudspeakers, so everyone on the battlefield heard this cry loud and clear!

Chapter 382: Daddy is Here!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

The words 'General Ling' reverberated like thunder across the entire battlefield, jolting everyone's hearts. The two sides which had been at each other's throats abruptly stopped fighting, looking up at the mecha which had appeared so unexpectedly.

This mecha was much bigger and grander than the imperial mecha. The imperial mecha, which was already one size bigger than regular mecha, was just like a petite maiden, appearing extremely feeble in comparison. It possessed a classic and simple outer form unlike other mecha. The blazing phoenix totem on its chest and the five stars symbolizing its nationality emblazoned on its right arm could be clearly seen by everyone present.

All of this stirred up everyone on the battlefield. The warriors of the Huaxia Federation were shouting in excitement, uncoordinated chants of 'General Ling' slowly merging into a unified chorus ... they were suffused with joy, and there were even many warriors who had tears streaming down their faces as they cheered.

In contrast, the flames of arrogance stoked by the reinforcement of the imperial operator were instantly dampened. Some mecha operators were even so terrified that they began to retreat — it was clear to see how nerve-wracking the emergence of this mecha was to them.

If it could be said that the battlefield had previously been plunged into silence by the appearance of the two imperial mecha, then the appearance of this mecha had caused the entire battle to freeze. The enemies, in particular, were scared stiff.

This was because everyone knew the identity behind this mecha who had suddenly descended upon the battlefield to block the imperial mecha's horrific attack. He was one of the twelve god-class operators of the Federation, the god-class operator termed to be the strongest in the future — he was one of the ten great generals of the Huaxia Federation, Ling Xiao!

Ling Xiao's reputation did not only echo throughout Huaxia; he was an awe-inspiring existence across the whole world. The enemies knew very well that the moment they made any wrong move, Ling Xiao would definitely eliminate them in a heartbeat. Against such an ultimate weapon, they had no chance of victory.

In the ground command centre, the commander there gave himself a hard slap as soon as he saw Ling Xiao suddenly appear. The sharp pain woke him up, and he began laughing wildly even as his eyes began to redden. Mumbling to himself, he said, "General Ling has really come. He's here, he's here ... victory will inevitably be ours, the Huaxia Federation's!" That final phrase was shouted at top volume. It was clear to see how much he had struggled and suffered in the battle thus far. And now, he could finally let it all out.

This cry of his jolted all the other staff in the command centre out of their stunned stupor. They immediately began to dance and cheer — within the span of a few short minutes, they had risen from the pits of despair to having hope again. Several officers with weaker hearts even slumped to the ground, unable to get up in the interim as they both cried and laughed in relief.

Rushing onto the scene, Ling Xiao's gaze had turned instantly to where Ling Lan lived on campus. When he saw thick clouds of smoke billowing from the dormitory district and the chaos and destruction within it, his gaze turned cold as he realised he had still been a step too late.

Ling Xiao's heart was filled with frustration and anxiety; he did not know whether his daughter was alright. Though typically calm, he finally could not suppress the killing intent in his heart. Without hesitation, he raised the gun in his hands and aimed it at the imperial mecha who had caused this terrible scene.

He absolutely would not allow this imperial mecha who may have harmed his precious daughter to escape his grasp. He would make the other pay the price in blood!

"Ling Xiao, you cannot do this." The imperial operator sensed a great threat; he knew that the other's killing intent had been invoked. Once one entered the imperial realm, they would be able to sense an opponent's killing intent.

The imperial operator knew very well that he was no match for a god-class operator. Against a god-class operator, other than rivals of the same rank, the only other way to deal with them was to rely on a considerable number of fearless imperial operators to employ mutual destruction methods ... perhaps then there would still be some chance of injuring the other. Take a good look — that's only to injure, not destroy. At their level, no miraculous cross-level upset was possible.

"If you kill me, you'll violate the international joint declaration," barked the imperial operator.

"Since the moment you first chose to open fire and shoot, you have already lost the right to say that to me," replied Ling Xiao coldly. Anyone who dared touch his daughter should be prepared to die.

Ling Xiao pulled the trigger without hesitation, and a pale blue beam shot out from the muzzle of the gun, heading straight for the opponent's mecha.

The imperial operator instantly kicked his mecha into flash evasion. In the blink of an eye, the imperial mecha had already dashed several hundred metres from his original location. Everyone on the ground saw the imperial mecha evade the beam Ling Xiao had shot. However, just as the Federation warriors were about to sigh and the enemy cheer, the very next second, everything changed. Everyone stared in silent stupefaction at the imperial mecha, unable to make any sound.

The right arm of the imperial mecha which had already flashed a hundred or so metres away had actually been destroyed. That massive Line of Oblivion which had been hoisted on his right shoulder slipped due to the loss of support to crash heavily into the ground, making a loud crash.

What in the world had happened? Very soon, some of the mecha operators with quick minds quickly realised that the imperial mecha's right arm must have been destroyed by that beam Ling Xiao had shot. But, how had the beam which had already been evaded still manage to strike the imperial mecha's arm?

Almost everyone was unable to figure it out, completely baffled, because they did not believe that their eyes could have been mistaken. Only Tang Yu's gaze flashed, a trace of confusion on his brow despite having some vague flash of comprehension that he just could not put words to.

Only the imperial operator who had been shot knew exactly how he had been hit. When the opponent had fired, he had used the highest form of shooting skill —— Temporal Shadow!

Temporal Shadow was actually a form of illusion — that is, the speed and the beam of light seen by the attacker were in fact all fake. In other words, when Ling Xiao had shot, the opponent had already fallen victim to a kind of misperception; this was an ability that only god-class operators could possess. The imperial operator only understood because he had once received some guidance from a god-class operator in his own country. The imperial operator felt that he might have already been hit even before he evaded — it's just that he had only noticed it after he evaded.

This was a god-class operator — he had no way to resist! The imperial operator finally experienced the same helplessness ace operators felt when they faced him ... Before he could regain his mental balance, a dark shadow had already appeared in front of him.

Pow pow pow pow! Four beams of cold light flashed by and in the next second, the imperial mecha's sole remaining left arm had been sliced cleanly off. The final blow of the sword pierced mercilessly through the imperial mecha's cockpit. With Ling Xiao's capabilities, he could certainly have finished off the opponent in one blow. However, it would be hard to quell Ling Xiao's rage with just one blow ...

The imperial mecha, who had strutted around proudly, terrorizing the entire battlefield, was eliminated so efficiently — everyone present at the scene was gobsmacked. Although they had always known that god-class mecha were ultimate weapons of the human world, that was after all just a legend. Many warriors would never witness a god-class mecha operator in battle all their lives, and so they would never truly comprehend what that description truly meant. Right then, after truly seeing a god-class operator in action, they finally understood why only god-class mecha were called the ultimate weapons of the human world ... the imperial mecha which had so frightened them was nothing before the god-class mecha. Like any other mecha before a god-class mecha, its existence was at the level of an ant.

Ling Xiao's rage was not appeased by destroying one imperial mecha; in the next moment, he had already appeared in the air above the armoured troops.

"Activate Divine Punishment system!" His own daughter's life hung in the balance because of these intruders. Ling Xiao's heart was surging with killing intent — without hesitation, he unleashed the god-class mecha's most fearsome weapon, the Divine Punishment system.

"Command received by , Divine Punishment activated!" In less than a second, twelve beautiful wings unfurled from god-class mecha 's back — the wings absorbed energy rapidly, reaching its peak level in the blink of an eye.

"Fire!" Ling Xiao said icily as he pressed the trigger in his hands without mercy. Twelve beams of light swept towards the enemy formations held off by the armoured troops, leaving white spots in everyone's vision for several seconds ... when the light faded and everyone's vision returned to normal, twelve lanes of white space had been carved into the ground. In the spaces, there was no longer any sign of mecha, not even debris — it was as if the mecha had been instantly vaporized.

This devastating firepower once again drove the point home on why god-class mecha were called the ultimate weapons of the human world — nothing could stand in the way of this power.

One round of Divine Punishment had almost wiped out half of the enemy mecha; the entire enemy camp suddenly appeared so empty and insubstantial. Ling Xiao's rage was only slightly alleviated; ending his attack, he once more teleported to hover in the air and decisively took charge of the general military-wide commlink and ordered, "All forces, attack! Clear the battlefield!" Since they dared to invade, then they should be prepared to die — Ling Xiao had never intended for any of these enemies to leave the planet alive.

"Yes, sir!" At Ling Xiao's command, all of the Huaxian soldiers responded spiritedly. They had been lifted from despair to hope over the course of a few minutes, and had now seen the budding fruit of victory from the heights of hope. Right then, they were fully motivated — the frustration from fighting at a disadvantage, completely overpowered, had finally disappeared. All of the warriors were bursting with energy, leaping towards those remaining enemy mecha like a pack of hungry wolves ...

While everyone charged at the remaining enemies, only Tang Yu flew towards Ling Xiao, shouting, "General Ling, there is still one more imperial mecha. He has already infiltrated the military academy ..."

Ling Xiao had already been planning to go check on Ling Lan in the dormitory district. Hearing what Tang Yu said, his heart clenched — for the other imperial mecha to let go of the obvious battle merits here to secretly infiltrate the school, what exactly was the other after?

Ling Xiao had the same thought as Ling Lan. The very first thing that came to mind was — could it be that his daughter's actions at the Swift Dragon base had been exposed? However, Ling Xiao very quickly eliminated this possibility. Although he had been staying at the military academy for the past period of time, he had still remained well-informed of the situation on the outside. There had been no sign at all that the Caesar Empire had sensed anything new ...

Suddenly, Ling Xiao's face shifted subtly, and in the very next second, he had vanished from Tang Yu's sight. Only his words echoed in the air, "Leave it to me!"

Ling Xiao unstintingly expended his mecha's power to utilize the Divine Wind system. Just a moment before, he had received a message from his daughter. The message consisted of only a set of coordinates, along with one word: Help!

Ling Xiao was consumed with worry and rage — he could almost guarantee that that last bloody imperial mecha must be at those coordinates!

"Lan-er, hold on for another 5 seconds. Daddy will be there soon~!" Ling Xiao was very confident that he would definitely be able to rush to the scene within 5 seconds using the Divine Wind system. However, he also knew that, up against an imperial mecha, 5 seconds could very well already decide whether his daughter would live or die ...

Chapter 383: A Game!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

After the other imperial mecha abruptly left the dormitory district, it arrived at an area several kilometres away several seconds later, where it then intercepted the Thunder King's gang which had been sneaking away from the dormitory district.

Seeing this enemy imperial mecha which had suddenly appeared before them, even the confident Thunder King Qiao Ting instantly lost his composure. His first reaction was to lead his team members to run in a desperate bid for escape.

"What a bunch of limp eggs!" said the imperial operator scornfully. He looked towards the distance — on the escape path this group had chosen, a team of eight mecha was heading right towards them in this direction ...

"Perhaps, I can play a fun game." A creepy smile emerged on the imperial operator's lips; this was his favourite game.

Having come to some decision, the imperial operator did not choose to destroy the Thunder King's group directly. Instead, he tailed them like an unshakeable shadow, slowly yet surely. At the same time, he enforced signal interference onto this sector, making it impossible for the two mecha teams to discover each other's presence beforehand with their radars ...

"Eh?" The imperial operator suddenly cried out in surprise. He had noticed the eight mecha rushing here suddenly stop — could it be that they had sensed something? The imperial operator immediately denied this possibility, because the interference function of an imperial mecha was unable to be cracked by mecha other than god-class mecha.

"How troublesome!" The other party's subsequent actions puzzled the imperial mecha and soured his mood. He could not help but curse and mutter under his breath before disappearing in a flash.

Running for their lives, at the brink of despair, the Thunder King's group suddenly found that the imperial mecha chasing after them all this while had suddenly vanished. Unable to help themselves, all of the mecha fell to their knees — the only one who managed to stay on his feet was the Thunder King ...

"He's letting us go?" Qiao Ting asked disbelievingly. Had that butcher's knife hanging high above their heads truly just gone away? The Thunder King really wondered if he was dreaming.

"That person is gone. He must have decided to let us go," answered one of his team members, panting. He was very grateful to keep his life — when they had been running earlier with the imperial mecha hot on their tail, he had really thought that they were all done for.

"Boss, while that person is away, let us quickly leave this place!" Another member was still extremely frightened. Even though his stamina was almost depleted by their desperate dash for survival earlier, he still felt that it was better to leave this dangerous location as soon as they could.

"Then, where should we go? We have no idea where the enemy has gone. What if we just happen to choose the same direction that person is heading towards? Isn't that just asking for trouble?" Yet another member glanced at his radar and saw that everything was empty on it. This meant that there were no other mecha within a ten-kilometre radius of them, making it seem as if this spot was very safe. However, the more things appeared this way, the harder it felt for him to make a decision.

"Let's just go back to the dormitory district. There are Federation troops there, and Instructor Tang Yu is there too." Someone suggested that they head back from whence they came. In their minds, Instructor Tang Yu was the strongest — perhaps he could protect them. Besides, there was both power and safety in numbers.

"No, I believe that it would be even more dangerous there. Didn't you see how all the enemies focused their attacks there? I'm wondering whether that imperial mecha has gone over to reinforce the forces at the dormitory district. If he has really gone there, even if Instructor Tang Yu is there, he won't be able to handle it," said Qiao Ting with a bitter smile. Even though Instructor Tang Yu was a king of aces, against an imperial operator, he was equally vulnerable.

Of course, although Qiao Ting did not want to go back for the reason he had mentioned, there was still another reason for his resistance. He had domineeringly led his group of twelve away earlier because he had wanted to earn battle merits and establish himself — if he ran back now with his tail between his legs, Qiao Ting felt that it would be just too great a loss of face. He did not want to go back and become the butt of jokes for those three members who had refused to come with him.

"Yes, the regiment commander is right." The member most supportive of Qiao Ting once again jumped out to back Qiao Ting's decision.

"It's better for us to continue moving forwards in this direction. If the imperial operator was planning to head this way anyway, I really can't figure out why he would choose to disappear on his own. Wouldn't it have made more sense to keep following us?" Qiao Ting bit out, then finally chose to continue with his previous course.

Qiao Ting's words were undoubtedly logical. Moreover, he was also the regiment commander, so even if some of the members had some reservations, they could only tag along since the majority agreed with their leader ...

Meanwhile, on Ling Lan's end, her team had been charging at high speed towards the dormitory district when she suddenly stopped. As soon as Ling Lan stopped, without her having to say a word, the rest of her team members tacitly stopped moving as well. They silently spread out around Ling Lan — highly used to working together, they knew what to do. They believed that their team leader would not have stopped for no reason; he must have noticed something.

Ling Lan had stopped because, inside her mindspace, Little Four had suddenly shouted a warning that there was an enemy ahead and that this enemy was actually an imperial mecha!

This news stunned Ling Lan. She immediately chose to stop her mecha, turning in her mind to ask Little Four what exactly was going on.

Little Four was also very distressed. Hands wrapped around his head, he said in disbelief, "I also can't figure it out. Doesn't this world have a joint declaration that mecha above ace level are not allowed to appear on a battlefield?"

"Boss, we better change directions and run! The other has most likely already noticed us ..." Little Four had some shielding ability, but he was not confident that his shielding would work as flawlessly against an imperial mecha. He immediately suggested that his boss temporarily run away to avoid the enemy.

"Okay!" replied Ling Lan decisively. She signalled for her team members to follow her, turning 90 degrees left in a swift escape ...

Backtracking along their original route, they would certainly bump into the unidentified enemy — Ling Lan naturally did not want to take the risk. Also, if they turned right instead, they would indirectly shorten the distance between them and the imperial mecha — Ling Lan did not want to chance it. Only by turning left and heading up could they put as much distance as they could between them and the imperial mecha.

However, Ling Lan's team had not even flown this way for 10 seconds when Little Four yelled out, "He's found us! He has given up on his original prey and is rushing towards us ... estimated time of arrival, 10 seconds!" This final phrase was said with a whine, because Little Four really could not think of any way for them to escape from the demonic clutches of the imperial operator.

Ling Lan gritted her teeth at those words, once again putting the brakes on her rapid sprint. She abruptly turned her head around to shout, "Prepare to fight!"

This cry of Ling Lan's instantly caused her well-trained team to stop and turn around like Ling Lan to get ready to face the enemy. At the same time, they took the weapons hanging on their backs into their hands.

Just when they had finished doing all this, in the night sky above them, a huge mecha appeared out of thin air. Its glorious and lovely chassis made everyone's face change. Familiar with mecha of every level, they naturally recognised that this was an imperial mecha.

At the same time, they also understood now why Boss Lan had asked them to prepare for battle. Before an imperial operator, it was utterly impossible to escape by running. As such, they might as well choose to fight — even if they died, they would at least die with some dignity.

"How interesting, actually able to choose death so calmly ..." Seeing how this group made a completely different decision from the previous group, the imperial mecha was exhilarated. The more he saw how brave and upstanding they were, the more he felt like abusing them. He wanted to see what these people would choose to do in the face of death — would they heroically leap to their death, or would they betray their principles to live?

"I will give you all one chance to live. Go back to the path you all were using previously, and you will encounter a group of people with 13 mecha. As long as you all kill everyone in the other group, I'll let you all go!" The imperial mecha suddenly turned on its external speakers to tell Ling Lan's team.

Ling Lan's gaze narrowed. "If I'm not mistaken, that group must be from our side. You want to see us fight amongst ourselves?"

Applause rang out from the other's speakers, and the imperial operator's sinister voice quickly followed, "You're very smart! Yes, indeed, I really want to see you all fighting and killing each other. And this just so happens to be your only chance to survive. Refuse, and the outcome for both your teams is death, though you will all just die at my hands."

"Of course, you can also choose to sacrifice yourself. Lead your team to meet the other group and commit suicide, and I can also let those people go," suggested the imperial operator with a smile. He was just like Satan, spreading the seeds of temptation which you could not refuse.

Ling Lan fell silent. All of a sudden, she did not know how to choose — the opponent had given her a reason she could not refuse. Just as Ling Lan hesitated, Little Four's despairing face was suddenly painted with pleasant surprise. He shouted loudly, "Boss, Daddy's here!"

"I agree!" Ling Lan's heart surged with joy as she replied decisively. Ling Lan was neither planning to kill the other team to survive, nor was she planning to lead her team to kill themselves. She was only trying her best to drag things out. Since she knew a saviour had come, it would really be too stupid to die here out of carelessness.

As Ling Lan replied, she did not forget to command Little Four inside the mindspace, "Little Four, quickly think of a way to send dad a message so he can come save us!"

"The other team is heading here right now. I'll give you all 10 seconds. If you all still have not met up with them after 10 seconds, I will destroy all of you, because you are all trash unworthy of playing this game." The imperial operator did not do as Ling Lan wished and give her more time — instead, he gave Ling Lan's team yet another rule to follow, giving them no choice but to work hard.

"I'll begin the count now ... 1 ..." The imperial operator did not give Ling Lan's team any more time to prepare, beginning to count the moment he finished issuing his newest rule. When Ling Lan heard '1', she was the first to turn her mecha and rush back in their original direction.

No matter what the situation would be like 10 seconds later, she needed to make full use of these 10 seconds to do as the other had said. Her only hope was that Little Four could make contact with her father as soon as possible ...

Seeing their boss charging out like a ferocious tiger, Ling Lan's team responded swiftly. All of them also operated their mecha to follow after their boss ...

"What a bunch of obedient children! Things are gonna be fun now!" The imperial operator licked his lips in excitement at the sight, cackling maliciously. A second later, that grand and lovely imperial mecha once again vanished from the sky, leaving no trace behind.

Chapter 384: Little Four's Mistake!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

"Movement!" Qiao Ting's group, which was rushing towards Ling Lan's group, suddenly felt vibrations coming from below their feet.

Everyone became nervous — because their radars were still blank, they had no idea what exactly was behind these vibrations.

The vibrations were gentle at the start, but several seconds later, they became more and more intense. Qiao Ting's group knew that something was about to appear before them soon.

"Godd*mmit, our radar scanning functions have all stopped working." Only now did Qiao Ting's team realise this fact. However, they did not know that this was a result of the imperial operator blocking all the signals within this sector. If Ling Lan had not possessed the oddball Little Four, she too would have been just like Qiao Ting's team, completely oblivious to the others' presence till they actually bumped into them.

"Prepare to fight!" Qiao Ting instantly gave his orders. No matter what appeared, preparing to fight would never be wrong. Of course, Qiao Ting could be certain that it definitely was not that imperial operator who was creating such an intense vibration. Ruling out the threat of that imperial operator, Qiao Ting behaved calmly and rationally.

"Yes, Regiment Commander!" Qiao Ting's composure calmed the rest of his team down as well. They all drew the weapons from their backs, preparing to meet these unexpected enemies. Of course, it was also possible that the comers were friendlies, but having been frightened by the imperial operator previously, their nerves were taut and they did not dare to take things lightly.

As the point man of the team, the mecha standing right at the front was the first to see the outer forms of the newcomers. Pleasant surprise flashed through his eyes and he hurriedly reported on his team commlink, "The outer form of the mecha has been confirmed to be trainee mecha from the academy. Level: advanced, 5 mecha! Oh, another has appeared, and that mecha is —— an ace mecha!"

When the other team members heard that the other party was operating advanced trainee mecha of the academy, their hearts settled. However, when the point man added that last bit in a tone a whole octave higher, everyone was stupefied ...

This was because everyone knew that, in the entire military academy, only their regiment commander, Thunder King Qiao Ting of Leiting, was qualified to operate ace mecha. They had not heard of any other person in the academy capable of piloting ace mecha so far. Could it be that the one piloting it was an instructor?

That was their first thought, but this notion was quickly overturned. All of the ace level instructors in the academy had their own personal ace mecha — they would never choose to pilot this type of ace trainee mecha which was obviously weaker than military-use ace mecha on all fronts.

Could it be that the person inside was operating it beyond their true level? Excluding operation by an instructor, this was the only other possibility they could think of. However, after observing that ace mecha's movements, they once again ruled out this speculation. That ace mecha's movements were natural, without any sense of stiffness or choppiness. This meant that the operator inside was operating it with ease, and this was absolutely not something someone operating across levels could do. Cross-level operation was very taxing and difficult — every step would drain a tremendous amount of the operator's mental strength and physical stamina. As such, it would be impossible for the mecha's movements to seem so smooth and natural.

Before Qiao Ting's team could come up with a reasonable explanation, the two sides were finally facing each other in the blink of an eye. About 100 metres or so away, the other party suddenly stopped, and the six mecha faced them from that distance without approaching any closer.

Just as Qiao Ting was about to initiate conversation and ask the other group some questions, a ripple appeared in the air above them, and that missing imperial mecha once again appeared before Qiao Ting's group.

Seeing this familiar imperial mecha, the faces of Qiao Ting's group instantly turned pale. Even Qiao Ting could not help but feel his heart drop, yelling internally that they were all done for. Who could have guessed that they were still unable to escape from the enemy's demonic clutches in the end? Could it be that they were really about to die here today?

As Qiao Ting and the others could not help but be swamped with despair, the imperial operator hovering in the air suddenly spoke, "Both teams, Listen well. As long as you can kill everyone in the other team, then you will have earned the right to continue living. Otherwise, I will personally take action, and at that time, no one from either team will be spared."

Qiao Ting's pupils contracted at these words. He had not expected the imperial mecha to have brought the other team over here because he wanted to see them fight among themselves. Although he was unsure who exactly was piloting the other ace trainee mecha, there was no doubt that the members of that team were cadets just like them.

The two teams were originally trustworthy comrades from the same side who could entrust their backs to each other, but now they were being forced to fight each other to the death ...

Did he really have to kill them? Qiao Ting's heart was conflicted — if there was any hope of surviving, of course he did not want to die. He believed that his team of 13 would definitely be able to obtain victory against the other's group of 6, because aside from the one ace mecha, the other 5 in the other group were only advanced mecha. Meanwhile, on Leiting's side, other than his own ace mecha, the others were all special-class mecha. Whether it was in terms of numbers or level of mecha, his team had the absolute upper hand.

But for the sake of survival, were they really going to kill their own schoolmates, their future comrades? Qiao Ting shivered violently. He could not imagine staining his hands with the blood of companions. If he truly did so, how would he be any different from an inhuman beast?

"There are things a person must do, and there are things a person must never do!" "Since you've already decided to be a mecha operator, you must be prepared to sacrifice yourself." Instructor Tang Yu's austere voice rang out suddenly in his mind's ear, and Qiao Ting jolted to awareness.

Yes, if they really did as the imperial operator said and chose to fight to the death among themselves just to survive, even if they were fortunate enough to survive in the end, their beliefs and principles would have been ruthlessly crushed in the process.

Qiao Ting's gaze turned from confusion to clarity, from hesitation to determination ... finally, after several seconds of silence, Qiao Ting spoke up to say, "I refuse!" Although Qiao Ting was extremely proud and self-assured, and loved to be in control — a genius who could stoop to some dirty means in order to achieve his objectives — he would never trade a comrade's life in order to ensure his own survival.

Qiao Ting's resolute refusal made a trace of admiration flash across Ling Lan's eyes. His refusal was equivalent to giving up on his own life. No matter how one looked at the situation, Qiao Ting's side was sure to win if the two teams fought.

Qiao Ting's words made the members of his team cry out in shock, but they very quickly settled down again. Perhaps the imperial operator's suggestion had indeed caused the hearts of some of Qiao Ting's members to waver, but when Qiao Ting firmly refused, though they felt a little disappointed, they were mostly more relieved.

If Qiao Ting had chosen to kill the other team, it might really have been possible for all of them to survive, but they would certainly have been mentally and spiritually tormented after the fact. They may even have had to worry whether, one day in the future, Qiao Ting might also sell them out for his own benefit.

Qiao Ting's words caused the imperial operator's eyes to turn cold. Furious, he raised the gun in his hand and aimed it at Qiao Ting, sneering as he said, "You actually dare to refuse me?! I am very angry. In that case, let me start with you!" That said, he pulled the trigger and a powerful beam was fired from the muzzle.

Seeing this, Qiao Ting quickly operated his mecha to evade, but the speed of the other's attack was extremely fast. This speed greatly exceeded the shooting speed of an ace mecha's beam gun, taking Qiao Ting slightly off-guard. Despite trying his best to dodge, he still only managed to move the vital points of his mecha out of the danger zone. Just as the shot looked like it would hit Qiao Ting's left leg, a whirling giant metal sword suddenly appeared before him, perfectly placed to block that beam attack.

There was a loud 'boom' and the giant sword clattered to the ground. At this time, the giant sword no longer looked anything like a giant sword. Though the giant sword, which was several times sturdier than the outer shell of a mecha, had managed to block that beam, the immense power behind it had still melted the giant sword down into a large metal block. Some tiny holes could even be seen in the metal block.

The power of the beam finally dissipated, and Qiao Ting looked down fearfully at the giant metal sword which had fallen at his feet ... oh, no, now, it could only be called a large metal block; only the two ends retained some impression of being a sword. He knew that if not for the abrupt appearance of this giant sword, that attack just now would definitely have damaged his mecha. If he was truly unlucky, the attack may even have endangered his life.

Qiao Ting could not help but look towards the other trainee ace mecha with gratitude in his eyes. The other's actions had also made his stance clear — he too did not want to fight and kill schoolmates and companions.

Sure enough, Qiao Ting received a communications request from the other immediately after. Although Qiao Ting did not know how the other managed to connect to his team's commlink, it was all unimportant as long as they could communicate and confirm their partnership in fighting against the enemy.

Ling Lan briefly explained the situation to Qiao Ting, and after confirming their partnership, she turned anxiously to ask Little Four whether he had managed to contact her father.

In the mindspace, Little Four was similarly anxious, his back drenched with sweat. Knowing that his and Boss Lan's life were at stake, Little Four, who should not have known what nervousness was, actually could not control his own emotions. The core chip which gave him life once again entered a high-temperature state ...

"Boss, I'm still unsuccessful. The security procedures of the god-class mecha are too powerful; I cannot infiltrate the other's mainframe anytime soon," replied Little Four quickly, wiping away the sweat on his forehead.

"All you have to do is send a distress message to dad!" When Ling Lan heard what he said, her initially sweaty forehead instantly beaded up with even more sweat. Who knew that Little Four would make such a mistake at this critical moment, actually choosing such a difficult path. Just think, the mecha her dad was operating was a god-class mecha — if the mainframe procedures of a god-class mecha were so easy to crack, would it still be a god-class mecha?

Ling Lan's words caused Little Four to freeze, abruptly realising what a stupid thing he had been trying to do. Yes, didn't he just have to send their coordinates and the news that they were in danger over to daddy? There really was no need to actually talk to the other ...

Little Four had tried to hack into and take over the other mecha out of habit to connect to the other's commlink and communicate directly; he had completely overlooked the fact that he could have just sent a message over to Ling Xiao to ask for help ...

"Boss, I'll send the message immediately." Little Four did not dare to meet Ling Lan's eyes in his shame and frustration. Boss must definitely be annoyed with him now — why had he been so stupid? Little Four's heart was a plain of darkness — the initially bright and lovely future looked so dark and lifeless all of a sudden. He might be kicked off his number one follower's throne by Boss because of this.

Chapter 385: Immortal Bird Ling Xiao!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

Even though Little Four was in low spirits, he still sent their coordinates and the word 'HELP' over to Ling Xiao. Then, he notified Ling Lan before he fell silent.

Little Four was self-reflecting — ever since he had experienced so-called human emotions, he had no longer acted like before under his initial settings and procedures, where he served the host he was contracted to according to the rules set by the learning space. Many times, even though he was meant to obtain his host's agreement before acting, he had still chosen to decide things on his own.

In the past, it was fortunate that there had been no great problems, but this most recent mistake — just because he skipped asking his boss first, he ended up doing a stupid thing, delaying any rescue they could receive — could have ended up killing his boss ... Little Four was truly racked with guilt. He decided that from now on, he would check in with his boss more often; he could not continue acting recklessly anymore.

As Ling Lan wrapped up her conversation with Little Four, the imperial operator, having seen his attack interrupted by Ling Lan's giant sword, was instantly in a horrible mood.

"Damn, actually daring to fight back? Die!" Enraged, the imperial operator once again raised the gun in his hands, but this time, he was aiming at Ling Lan. Compared to Qiao Ting, he now hated this person who had ruined his attack even more. He felt as if his pride as an imperial operator had been violated — he needed to kill the other to let everyone know that the pride of an imperial operator should never be violated.

"Attack together!" Ling Lan naturally would not just wait around to be killed; she chose to defend by attacking. Among everyone on the field, only she and Qiao Ting could perhaps offer some resistance; sending anyone else would be a death sentence. Thus, this cry of hers was directed at Qiao Ting.

When he was up against a terrifying imperial operator on his own, Qiao Ting was perhaps at a loss due to the power gap, becoming a sitting duck due to overwhelming fear and despair. But now, with an allied peer beside him to fight alongside him, the proud Qiao Ting would never allow himself to lose against the other.

After calling out to Qiao Ting, Ling Lan instantly charged over. Her speed was very fast — she was almost by the imperial mecha's side in the blink of an eye. Even though her giant sword was gone, she still had a beam saber, which she swung viciously at the other.

On the other side, Qiao Ting leapt up at almost the same time, revving his engines to shoot up into the sky. The two beam guns on his back suddenly appeared in his mecha's hands, and Qiao Ting pulled on the triggers in a frenzy. Countless beams poured out of the two guns in an instant, raining down like a meteor shower at the imperial operator.

Facing the foolish resistance of the two, the imperial operator started laughing at the apex of his rage. "Petty tricks! You're just asking for death!" The initially hovering mecha suddenly disappeared only to appear again 30 metres away in the next second, easily resolving Ling Lan's and Qiao Ting's combined attack.

Not only that, his disappearance caused all of Qiao Ting's beam attacks to fly towards Ling Lan. Seeing his own attacks about to hit a companion by mistake, in his great horror, Qiao Ting cried out hoarsely, "Dodge!"

"What a dumb pig of a teammate!" Li Lanfeng, who was seated beside Ling Lan, could not help but grouch. Firing long-range attacks against an imperial operator specialising in long-range attacks; Qiao Ting's brain must definitely have become scrambled from being shot at.

Ling Lan said nothing; seeing the rain of beams heading for them, she did not panic. Calmly, she operated her mecha into some quick evasion manoeuvres, at the same time turning the power on her mecha's beam shield up to its maximum setting. As long as the same weak spot was not hit again, being at the same level, her ace mecha's beam shield would still be able to block these beam attacks.

Of course, Ling Lan did not plan on getting hit if she could help it. If she were hit, even if her mecha would be fine, its power would be greatly drained. And because Ling Lan had been continuously battling, her ace mecha's power was already running low. Therefore, she had no choice but to be careful and use the remaining power sparingly.

Ling Lan's mecha actually left a trail of shadow in the air from moving so quickly — the beams hurtling at her passed through the afterimages to fall to the ground, blasting dust and dirt into the air.

Just as Ling Lan evaded the shots, Qiao Ting did not even have the time to breathe a sigh of relief before the imperial operator's attacks had come swiftly and silently.

It turned out that after the imperial operator had shifted 30 metres away, both Ling Lan and Qiao Ting was now within his shooting range. Seeing those two small fishes occupied with each other, the imperial operator slyly raised the beam gun in his hands and pulled the trigger twice in quick succession.

He wanted to finish off these two small fishes in one go — he, who was an expert in long-range attacks to begin with, was a master at changing the direction of his shots without having to pause.

Ling Lan and Qiao Ting suddenly felt a deep chill penetrate their very bones — this was a danger alarm that only ace operators possessed. The both of them knew that the most dangerous moment was upon them ...

Ling Lan quickly located where the danger was coming from — perhaps spurred by the life-or-death situation, the speed of Ling Lan's fingers once again exploded forth, becoming so quick that her fingers were no longer visible. Li Lanfeng felt as if even his eyes could no longer keep up ...

Ling Lan's mecha began to spin — due to the extreme speed, many layers of afterimages of the mecha appeared. This scene flabbergasted the twelve Leiting mecha, because they knew this was the most advanced of ace mecha evasion techniques —— Shadow Slip! Even Qiao Ting could not pull off this technique perfectly, unable to execute it with such precision and accuracy.

Meanwhile, Qiao Ting swiftly moved his mecha back, raising the two guns in his hands to shoot frenziedly at that beam heading straight for him. Here, Qiao Ting's long-range accuracy was on full display. Even though his mecha was retreating at high speed, every shot from both his left and right hand struck true. When the beam was only 10 metres or so from him, it was finally completely neutralised by the beam attacks of his two guns ...

Ling Lan's evasion was effective as well. The beam heading for her brushed through one of the afterimages of her mecha to hit the ground, instantly blasting a 10-metre wide ditch into the ground. It was clear to see how powerful the beam had been — even an ace mecha would not have had fared well against it.

Looking at the responses of the two, although Ling Lan's method seemed to be more dangerous, in truth, Qiao Ting had had a harder time of it than Ling Lan. Because in that instant, to ensure that every single shot of his guns would strike the enemy's beam, Qiao Ting's mental and physical focus had been raised to their limits. Thus, as soon as he cancelled out the enemy's beam attack with the power of his own attacks, his entire body was already drenched with sweat, and he could feel that his two arms were stiff and numb.

Seeing how both his attacks had been successfully evaded by these two insignificant small fries before him, the imperial operator was almost dizzy with anger. He felt that this was a disgrace! Thus, he drew another gun from behind him. This gun's muzzle was wider than his first gun, and its rear end where the energy block should be inserted was also two to three times thicker.

When Ling Lan and Qiao Ting saw this gun, their faces changed drastically. They knew what it was — it was the most powerful long-range weapon with the largest attack scope imperial mecha possessed. When it was fired, its beams would present in the shape of a fan. Against this weapon, neither Ling Lan's evasion technique, Shadow Slip, nor Qiao Ting's power neutralization approach would work. That was because those two methods were ineffective against this type of area-of-effect weapons.

What worried Ling Lan even more was that no one knew exactly where the beams fired by this gun would go. The unknown and uncertain quality of this weapon not only put Ling Lan and Qiao Ting in great danger, it also drew the spectating members of their two teams into danger as well.

After the imperial operator brought out this weapon, a cruel smile bloomed on his lips. Right now, he no longer had any mind to play around — he only wanted to annihilate all of these cadets; only then would his bellyful of rage be appeased.

"Go to hell!" The imperial operator pulled on his trigger forcefully, firing not just once but many times. Due to the high speed, those beams actually merged into a semicircle, which charged relentlessly towards Ling Lan and Qiao Ting, as well as the other team members below them.

"Dodge!" Ling Lan and Qiao Ting shouted almost simultaneously. Compared to Qiao Ting, Ling Lan was even more anxious. After all, Qi Long and the others of her team were only piloting advanced mecha — even if they were merely brushed by these power beams, they would certainly lose their lives in the destruction of their mecha. The power behind this imperial mecha's weapon was just too strong — even an ace mecha, using all of the power at its disposal, would probably only be able to withstand one of its beam attacks, not to mention advanced mecha which were considerably weaker than ace mecha.

Everyone was evading as best as they could, but the level gap of the mecha still put quite a number of the boys into a desperate situation. Ling Lan flew with all her might towards the advanced mecha closest to her — she could not save everyone, so she could only focus on saving the member closest to her.

It could not be denied that Ling Lan's heart was tinged with regret right now. If she had known that the enemy this time was so formidable, perhaps she should have just made everyone hide within the air raid shelter ...

There was a loud 'boom' as a pale blue beam abruptly intervened, striking those scattered beams and causing them to dissipate instantly. Not only that, the power behind the pale blue beam was not whittled much by the exchange, continuing to fly through the air to hit the ground, where it then carved out a ditch of about 50 metres. Several team members close to that spot — whether it was from Ling Lan's team or the Leiting Mecha Clan — were sent tumbling by the violent tremors caused by the beam striking the ground. Those whose control skills were a little weaker were even sent flying by the aftershock.

Seeing his sure-kill attack being ruined by a measly little beam, the imperial operator's face changed. He turned to seek the source of the attack and saw a ripple appear in an initially empty bit of space in the air, and then, a large and simplistic mecha was revealed.

Behind its back, twelve majestic wings were spread out gloriously, beautiful and dazzling. A fiery red phoenix was dancing in flames on its chest, marking the operator's identity, and the golden five-star emblem on its right arm declared which nation he hailed from ...

This unbelievably familiar mecha caused the imperial operator's heart to turn cold. All top-class operators had a dossier with detailed information on all of the god-class operators of every nation. The outer appearance of this mecha and the totem on its chest ... he would never mistake it. From the country designated as the Huaxia Federation, the presumed strongest god-class operator for the next 100 years —— the Immortal Bird Ling Xiao!

The imperial operator was petrified, and other than Ling Lan, everyone else in Ling Lan's team and all of Qiao Ting's group were similarly stunned.

Chapter 386: Li Lanfeng's Illness?

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

Li Lanfeng, who was sitting beside Ling Lan, looked at that magnificent giant mecha in the night sky in dazed shock, unable to react for a long moment. Reflexively, he clutched Ling Lan's arm and stammered, "Ling ... Ling ... G-General Ling Xiao!"

Seeing her father appear like a deity before her at this most critical moment to rescue everyone, Ling Lan was similarly overwhelmed with gratitude and excitement. At the same time, she was also extremely proud. See, see, this was her father! In every child's heart, their father should be the greatest. Despite having lived two lives, Ling Lan was no exception to this young daughter mentality.

However, when Li Lanfeng clutched her arm, all of Ling Lan's excitement and proud happiness fled. She frowned slightly, glancing at the large hand on her arm. Say, she really did not like others touching her body ...

Ling Lan's cold gaze swept harshly over Li Lanfeng, rife with warning, hoping that Li Lanfeng would move away his disturbing hand.

Li Lanfeng may have been too overwhelmed with emotion; typically extremely observant, he was now unbelievably dense and slow. He did not notice the great distaste in Ling Lan's eyes and continued to grip Ling Lan's arm as he gushed, "That's General Ling Xiao! He's one of our Federation's twelve god-class operators, and also the publicly acknowledged strongest god-class operator in the world. He's the mecha operator I idolise the most ... who could have guessed that General Ling Xiao would actually show up here to save us? I must be dreaming ... Rabbit, Rabbit, I'm too excited ..."

Li Lanfeng could only repeat how excited he was non-stop to the rabbit; this moronic behaviour left Ling Lan speechless. She once again peered at that large hand on her arm and then looked at the dreamy expression on Li Lanfeng's face and his obviously fanatic behaviour ... alright, in view of how much the other adored her father, she would tolerate this!

While Ling Lan was bitterly enduring Li Lanfeng's endless fanboy chatter about General Ling Xiao's greatness, on the outside, Ling Lan's team and the Leiting group were all watching that majestic mecha hovering in the air with emotional faces. Some of them were so moved that they made mistakes in their control, causing their mecha to lose balance and stumble and fall.

However, all this were just trivial things. Everyone knew that the arrival of the god-class operator General Ling Xiao meant that they were all safe now. Well, with the exception of that grandstanding imperial mecha who had been trying to toy with them.

The imperial operator was currently staring in panic at Ling Xiao's mecha; he knew he was in danger now. An imperial mecha was indeed much stronger than an ace mecha, able to bully and kill an ace mecha without too much trouble, but this only applied to ace mecha. Against a god-class mecha, his fate was exactly like if an ace mecha was up against him — there was no room at all for resistance.

When he saw Ling Xiao's mecha once again raise the beam gun in his hands emotionlessly, his expression changed drastically and he immediately activated his external speakers to shout, "Immortal Bird Ling Xiao, please do not take action. As long as you let me go, I will immediately retreat from this battle."

"Let you go? When you were fighting against these cadets, did you ever think of letting them go?" replied Ling Xiao icily. Even though Ling Xiao's reply sounded even and impassive, Ling Lan could still hear the deep rage embedded within it. That mild-mannered and kind father of hers who did not seem to understand the meaning of anger could actually lose his temper like this?

Ling Lan was very intelligent — she quickly figured out why Ling Xiao had become so angry. It was all because of her! Everyone had their own personal buttons which should never be pressed, and one of Ling Xiao's buttons was her, Ling Lan.

What a fearsome daughter-con! Even as Ling Lan sighed at the realization, a warm current flowed gently through her heart. The corners of her lips suddenly quirked upwards, cracking her typically frozen and emotionless face, and this curve was spreading wider and wider ...

Li Lanfeng's full attention had been on Ling Xiao, but when he felt the cold aura by his side suddenly turn warm, he turned around in confusion. Thus, he happened to see that once in a blue moon warm smile of Ling Lan's, and the sight was like an arrow to his heart.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!" Li Lanfeng's heart pounded heavily within his ribcage. He reflexively pressed a hand to his chest — could it be that his illness was acting up again? Ever since he had listened to the rabbit seven years ago and begun working hard on his basics, his body had been gradually getting better. The intense pain where he felt as if his heart was about to burst had also slowly lessened until it no longer acted up at all from four years ago. But today, why did he once again have that same sort of feeling?

Could it be that this was an underlying problem that would flare up when his stamina was depleted? After thinking it over long and hard, Li Lanfeng could only come up with this possibility. He hurriedly closed his eyes, no longer daring to look, repeatedly telling himself that he needed to be calm and not get too worked up. Li Lanfeng still remembered that every time his illness flared up, he would always rely on self-abuse to distract himself from the pain coming from deep within him. However, he did not want the rabbit to see this side of him. Although he knew that the rabbit would not look down on him for it, he still did not want to appear weak before the rabbit ...

Very soon, his heart stopped its wild and fierce beating, slowly calming back down. Only when his emotions had settled completely did Li Lanfeng open his eyes. His forehead was already coated in sweat — just that brief occurrence had been enough to scare Li Lanfeng greatly.

By now, Ling Lan had returned to her usual demeanour. When a change had come over Li Lanfeng, Ling Lan had immediately sensed it. She had instantly turned to retrieve a restorative agent, but when she saw that Li Lanfeng seemed to have it under control, she decided to wait and observe a little longer; no matter how good a medicinal agent was, ingesting too much of it would result in a certain degree of drug tolerance. Ling Lan did not wish for her companions to overuse medicinal agents and meet a tragic end because they were unable to achieve adequate recovery during critical moments later on.

When she saw that Li Lanfeng's condition was slowly recovering, Ling Lan relaxed. However, she was once again reminded of Li Lanfeng's fragile physical constitution. She made up her mind that, once the battle on planet Newline was over, the first thing she needed to do was to improve Li Lanfeng's physique. She could not allow her team to have a member with a frail and sickly body.

While Li Lanfeng had almost gotten himself into trouble on their end, on the outside the imperial mecha had been rendered speechless by Ling Xiao's question. Ling Xiao had never considered letting this executioner who had almost harmed his daughter go, and so was not planning to hear any explanations the other could provide. He had barely finished stated his question when he pulled the trigger in his hands without any hesitation. A powerful beam of pale blue light was fired from the muzzle of the beam gun, shooting straight for the imperial operator.

The imperial operator was startled and quickly operated his mecha to evade. At the same time, he turned on his communicator to try and contact his companion, wanting to call the other over to help. However, when his mecha's computer provided feedback that the other party was unreachable, the imperial operator knew that he was in deep trouble.

Ling Xiao was not at all surprised that this attack of his was successfully evaded by the enemy. He had not intended for this shot to kill the enemy to begin with; instead, he had been trying to get the opponent to move further away from his darling daughter's mecha.

Although there were two ace trainee mecha below, knowing his daughter well, Ling Xiao naturally knew that his daughter was most definitely piloting that close combat mecha. And that mecha just so happened to be within the attack range of that imperial mecha. Even as confident as he was, in this kind of scenario, Ling Xiao's first decision was to first save his daughter from any danger — killing the enemy could wait 1 .

At this thought, Ling Xiao could not help but shake his head in silence. If he could help it, he would have wanted his precious daughter to choose a safer long-range attack mecha. With the addition of their Divine Command Sect's spiritual power control, that mecha could definitely become a horrifying mobile attack bastion. Its formidable firepower would guarantee that other mecha would not be able to get close to it, ensuring its survival ability on the battlefield. Although this choice was off the track of becoming a god-class operator, Ling Xiao had never intended for Ling Lan to become a god-class operator anyway. This was not only because Ling Lan was a girl — physical constitution pretty much made it impossible for a girl to become a god-class operator — but more because Ling Xiao knew very well just how much pain and suffering was involved in ascending to god-class status. He could not bear for his daughter to experience it.

This shot of Ling Xiao's had indeed achieved his objective. The imperial operator had no clue that the Federation's strongest god-class operator would value an ace mecha below them so highly — if he had known of Ling Lan's identity, he would definitely have risked great injury to obtain Ling Lan as a hostage no matter what.

However, other than Ling Lan's original team members who already knew of Ling Lan's and Ling Xiao's relationship, most outsiders did not know anything about this. This once again let Ling Lan sail through a crisis safely.

The imperial operator's retreat put more distance between him and Ling Lan, and Ling Xiao's mecha once again disappeared, only to immediately appear before Ling Lan's mecha. 's large body completely obscured Ling Lan's mecha behind it, and only at this moment did Ling Xiao's heart finally settle.

"You can still move, right?" asked Ling Xiao all of a sudden.

"Of course, even another fight would be fine, as long as no such monster like an imperial mecha appears," Ling Lan knew that this question was directed at her, so she instantly replied.

Ling Lan's answer obviously did not hold much awe or deference, which caused Li Lanfeng in the same mecha to be stunned once more. He stared blankly at Ling Lan, wondering how Ling Lan could use this type of attitude in responding to General Ling Xiao.

"Monster? To use this term on an imperial mecha, you think too highly of him." It was unexpected for the generally mild-mannered Ling Xiao to spout this kind of sharp and mocking words. "Let me show you how, before a god-class mecha, all other mecha are ants."

His words had barely faded when Ling Xiao suddenly disappeared from before Ling Lan and he reappeared almost instantaneously beside the imperial mecha. This was the god-class mecha's Divine Wind system in action, truly achieving theoretical instant teleportation.

The god-class mecha was a multi-faceted mecha. In other words, it was a legendary mecha whose long-range ability and close-range ability were equally optimized. Compared to the other god-class mecha which were geared more towards close combat, was more balanced on all fronts. This was also why was renowned to be the strongest god-class mecha.

Thus, Ling Xiao not only had great long-range attack capabilities, he was equally formidable in close-range combat. There was a gleam of cold light, and one of the imperial mecha's arms was sliced right off. It fell to the ground heavily, creating a shallow ditch with its impact.

"Hmm? Your evasion technique is not bad." Ling Xiao was rather surprised. He had originally intended for this sword to directly pierce the other's cockpit. He was well aware that it was completely impossible for a normal imperial mecha to escape his attack with his speed. Unexpectedly, the opponent's evasive manoeuvres had exceeded the theoretical limits of imperial mecha.