434-440

Chapter 434: Very Ugly, Very Scary?

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

This time, Tianji and Wuji had 12 member slots each. As per Boss Lan's request, they had brought the strongest 12 special-class operators from their respective mecha clans. The regiment commanders of both mecha clans arrived before Song Yanxu at the same time, one on the right, one on the left, neither willing to give way to the other.

Song Yanxu surreptitiously wiped away the sweat beading up on his forehead. He glanced to the left and then to the right, before asking cautiously, "Which of you shall come first?"

Han Yu coolly glanced sideways at Tianji's regiment commander, Mu Shaoyu, who looked back at him just as coolly. Fiery sparks flew between the two, but neither made a move to answer Song Yanxu's question. For a moment, the hall became extremely still and silent.

The silent confrontation between the two made the cold sweat spring out even faster from Song Yanxu's forehead. He could not help but curse internally, 'Hells, what is this bunch of First Men's Military Academy students planning to do? Are they going to fight? Why don't they show any intention of working together?'

Song Yanxu believed that the First Men's Military Academy definitely would not be able to accomplish any good results under these circumstances. He silently blamed the primary force Qiao Ting for not leading his team well, for not resolving these conflicts in his team in time and allowing this issue to worsen.

The situation in the hall was deteriorating, and just as the two seemed about to blow, Xie Yi, who had been watching coldly from the side-lines, suddenly spoke up to say, "How about we let Regiment Commander Mu go first?" He could not bear to see Song Yanxu become dehydrated from sweating too much due to the stress of being stuck between the two regiment commanders. Besides, Song Yanxu had been kind enough to pass on a message for Luo Lang and Han Xuya, so he should give him a hand no matter what.

Mu Shaoyu and Han Yu both turned to look at Xie Yi at the same time, trying to figure out the deeper meaning behind Xie Yi's words. Xie Yi only smiled and shrugged, looking for all the world as if he was just trying to be helpful. Han Yu was greatly frustrated, but he merely sniffed coldly and turned his head away, no longer holding Mu Shaoyu's gaze. This was an indirect acquiescence of Xie Yi's suggestion.

Seeing this, Mu Shaoyu stepped forwards matter-of-factly. Even though Tianji had lost to Lingtian, it was still originally the number two faction after all. How could he allow Wuji, whose ranking was behind Tianji, to be a step before him? No matter what, the dignity of Tianji had to be maintained.

After Tianji had registered, Mu Shaoyu nodded at Xie Yi in thanks for helping him out and also in acknowledgement of the favour. He then side-eyed Han Yu once more before leading his group away from the hall. When Han Yu finally finished registering with the rest of the Wuji group, he glared at Xie Yi and harrumphed coldly, a sign that he would remember this slight. Only then did he haughtily lead the Wuji group away from the hall.

"What kind of people are they ..." said Luo Lang, mouth thin, very displeased by Han Yu's attitude towards Xie Yi.

"It's fine. With Boss around, he won't be able to pull anything," replied Xie Yi with a grin. He did not mind Han Yu's attitude at all, especially for the duration of this Mecha Grand Tournament.

Mind you, even though the public leader of the First Men's Military Academy team was Qiao Ting, in reality, the true leader was Ling Lan. Although Han Yu had qualified to become a representative here at the Mecha Grand Tournament, whether or not he actually got to represent the First Academy in battle still depended on whether Boss allowed it or not. With the decision-making power in the hands of his boss, as long as Han Yu wasn't retarded, he definitely would not cause trouble for Xie Yi during this period of time; therefore, Xie Yi was very calm.

"I really cannot understand why Boss decided to give some spots to those mecha clans below ..." Luo Lang had been puzzled by this all this while — the honour and glory obviously belonged to their Lingtian.

"Think about it. How many special-class operators have we brought this time?" Xie Yi cackled. "We've pretty much brought the whole pot. I'm really looking forward to that final battle royal involving all the academies. If they knew that their opponents are almost all special-class operators and top-class experts from the various specializations, I wonder what their expressions would be like ..."

Luo Lang imagined that scene and a smile pulled at the corners of his lips. "That should be fun!" This smile instantly caused his entire being to dazzle brightly, and Xie Yi reflexively turned to look elsewhere ... hells, why was this punk so beautiful when he smiled? He was fast unable to hold on.

Right then, another large group of people entered through the doorway again. One of those in the group was extremely familiar to Xie Yi. He instantly let out a sigh of relief and rushed forward to greet the other, calling out, "Senior Zhang, you all have come. That was pretty quick." He was saved! He finally had a proper reason to distance himself from Luo Lang and rescue his heart which was on the brink of an accident.

The one who had just arrived was the previous regiment commander of Dwotong, Zhang Jing-an. He was leading a battle team from his own faction as well as those other participating students from the other minor factions. Although there were not that many people from each faction — with some only having one or two — when taken in total, they had slightly greater numbers than the two teams which had come before them, making up approximately thirty people.

Zhang Jing-an saw Xie Yi coming up to greet him and he cast a reflexive glance around the currently empty hall, then said somewhat pointedly, "They've all left?"

Xie Yi smiled, nodded and said, "Yes, those from Leiting and Wuji have already finished registering and went off to their own accommodations to rest."

Hearing this, Zhang Jing-an turned to say to the regiment commanders of the other factions, "Let's quickly handle our registrations too then. Regiment Commander Ling's group will be coming soon. Let's not hold up the line."

The regiment commanders nodded and quickly led their men over to the counter to register.

Only then did Zhang Jing-an turn to say to Xie Yi, "This time, thanks to Regiment Commander Ling's faith in me, he gave me an additional eight slots, but unfortunately my faction cannot compare to Leiting, Tianji and Wuji ... some of the members are a bit lacklustre ..."

Xie Yi smiled and said, "Senior Zhang is worrying too much. Our Boss Lan has said that there is no need for the strongest, just the most suitable. Senior Zhang's battle clan is one of the teams with the best teamwork in our academy. Our Boss Lan trusts in you all."

Zhang Jing-an smiled at those words and could not help but sigh in admiration. "Rascal. You're really good with words, and strong too. No wonder your regiment commander let you be the one to greet and handle us."

Xie Yi hurriedly said in a humble manner, "That is just Boss Lan being trusting. I'm not that amazing."

Xie Yi's attitude of being immune to all flattery made Zhang Jing-an shake his head, silently admiring of how Ling Lan had been able to excavate so many talented people.

This group of people led by Zhang Jing-an all had pretty good rapport with one another; everyone got along rather well. Song Yanxu sighed softly at this, finally feeling like this was a true team. Those in the last batch of people had almost given him the impression that they were two teams with different affiliations which hated each other.

While Song Yanxu was busy processing all the registrations, his colleagues came back from their meal. When they saw so many people in the hall, they knew that a new military academy must have arrived, so they quickly rushed forwards to help with the registering.

With the reinforcement of 10 more staff, the staff very quickly completed everyone's registration. Right at that moment, 40 more people surged in from the doorway. The one in the lead was also a youth dressed in a white uniform. The moment he stepped into the hall, the temperature instantly dropped, and the initially noisy hall became silent immediately.

Song Yanxu suddenly felt a chill surround his body and could not stop himself from shivering.

Xie Yi and Luo Lang had been leaning on a wall, waiting all this time for the crowd to finish their registration. When they saw the new arrivals, their eyes instantly lit up and they rushed out to stand before the cold-faced youth and called out respectfully, "Boss!"

The cold youth nodded at Luo Lang and Xie Yi, and then turned to look at Zhang Jing-an to ask him calmly, "Senior Zhang, your registrations are done?"

Zhang Jing-an quickly replied, "Yes, Junior Ling, we are all done." Zhang Jing-an's reply instantly shook the people in the hall from their stupor. They hurriedly made way, allowing Ling Lan and the people she brought here to move forwards and register with the staff members.

Ling Lan's arrival made the regiment commanders from the mecha clans of various sizes feel the pressure of a mountain upon them; thus, they all quickly bid farewell to Ling Lan and led their team members in a swift departure from the hall.

Ling Lan saw Zhang Jing-an and friends running out of the hall like demons were chasing after them, and found herself extremely speechless. She turned her head to ask Wu Jiong, "Am I very ugly? Very scary?" Even though this lady 1 always has a cold face, this lady's genes are absolutely top of the line. Both daddy Ling Xiao and mummy Lan Luofeng were super good-looking and elegant ... did those boys have to run away in such fear as if they had just seen a ghost?

Wu Jiong threw a quick glance at Ling Lan and then immediately lowered his eyes. Boss Lan should have pretty good looks, right ...? Wu Jiong actually could not imagine what Ling Lan truly looked like. Only Ling Lan's penetrating gaze remained in his memory, as well as that silent penetrating chill ... seriously, who would dare to study Boss Lan's looks so closely? One look was enough to make a person retreat three feet.

Sensing Boss Lan's cold and penetrating gaze sweep sharply pass his face, Wu Jiong tolerated the chill which seemed to slice him right to the bone. With effort, he gathered his thoughts to reply, "How can that be? Boss Lan is handsome and majestic, unparalleled in your dominance ..."

Why was the cold intent in Boss Lan's eyes growing thicker? He had clearly only said good things ... Wu Jiong could not know that all the things he had said were indeed good things when used to describe boys, but when used to describe girls, those words were actually rather horrible.

Wu Jiong felt that he really might not have a chance to participate in the Mecha Grand Tournament if things went on like this — just as he was about to be killed on the spot, Qi Long spoke up and rescued him. "Boss, your force of presence is too strong. When you stand beside people, they feel really pressured, like a mountain is pressing down on them. Normal people can't take it."

When Ling Lan heard this, the cold air around her dissipated a little. Wu Jiong cleverly started nodding his head in agreement. "Yes, Boss Lan, those able to stand firmly by your side must already have physical skills at our level."

Ling Lan's brow furrowed — just as Instructor Number One in the learning space had said, her force of presence was becoming stronger and stronger, even already at the critical point. Sometimes, there were even signs of her losing control over it. But, even after such a long time, she still had not been able to find the catalyst to merge her force of presence with her own body. This made her wary of displaying her physical skills, afraid that she may lose control and end up doing something she would regret greatly.

Coming to terms with the answer, Ling Lan gave up on pressing Wu Jiong any further. Standing behind her, Li Lanfeng's gaze shimmered — he had not forgotten that smile so lovely that it could fell cities and nations. However, this was his secret — he would not share it with others.

Ling Lan's arrival made Song Yanxu and all the other staff members there rally their spirits; they focused on registering all the people who had come along with Ling Lan. It was only after sending Ling Lan off that they breathed a sigh of relief. Some of them even slumped over in their seats, their limbs limp and powerless. Only then did Song Yanxu realise that he had actually forgotten to speak more with Xie Yi and Luo Lang; he did not even know when they had finished their registration procedures ...

"Ling Lan eh? That person's force of presence is really strong, even stronger than that of their primary force Qiao Ting. It would've been hard to breathe even for someone standing far away to one side." Song Yanxu looked down at Ling Lan's information recorded on the optical supercomputer and muttered to himself, "Only a special-class operator?" His tone was full of doubt.

Chapter 435: Provocation!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

At this time, in the accommodation area assigned to the Second Men's Military Academy, a boy rushed into the living quarters of his regiment commander. This boy was Ah Li, who had been attracted by Luo Chao and Han Xuya, and who had also been dispatched by his regiment commander to scout for information.

"Regiment Commander, I've found it. The leader of the First Co-ed Military Academy 1 this time is Lin Xiao." When he saw his regiment commander, Ah Li immediately reported the news he had gathered.

Speaking of his regiment commander ... in their Second Men's Military Academy, he was a famous figure. He was the tacitly acknowledged number one in their academy, the one who had successfully advanced to ace operator in his fifth year — Jiang Shaoyu. By all accounts, for his regiment commander to have advanced to ace operator at such an age was also outstanding, belonging to the ranks of the cream of the crop. Unfortunately, he was outshined by Qiao Ting of the First Men's Military Academy by a head — who let the other manage to advance in his fourth year? That allowed Qiao Ting to recreate Ling Xiao's record of advancing to ace operator level as a fourth-year cadet, making the people of the Federation call him the second Ling Xiao. In this way, Qiao Ting had completely stolen the thunder of his regiment commander 2 .

This time, Jiang Shaoyu had been willing to lead the representative team into battle partly because he wanted to take the chance to defeat Qiao Ting. Jiang Shaoyu wanted to use the truth to tell the other that, even if Qiao Ting had been lucky enough to advance to ace level in his fourth year, he would never be the number one of the military academies.

"Lin Xiao, what a familiar name." Hearing this name, Jiang Shaoyu, who had been half-reclining on the sofa, sat up straight. He opened his communicator and began to search for information on Lin Xiao, and only afterwards did he say with a tone of realisation, "So it's him. In the last tournament, he also joined the Mecha Grand Tournament. It's unexpected that he would join again this time and become the team leader to boot."

Jiang Shaoyu chuckled coldly. Lin Xiao was just like him; they were both sixth-year students. In the last tournament, when they had still been third-years, the First Co-ed Military Academy had made an exception for Lin Xiao due to his extraordinary mecha piloting talent, allowing him to represent the school in the tournament. Meanwhile, although Jiang Shaoyu's piloting talent had been no weaker than the other's, he had not earned the right to participate due to the intense competition in his military academy. He was still rather sore over the fact.

" Three years ago, he was already a special-class operator 3 . Now that these three years have passed, if his talent is truly as strong as they say, he should already be an ace operator ..." Jiang Shaoyu may be jealous and resentful of Lin Xiao, but this did not affect his judgment. "It looks like this Lin Xiao will also be a formidable opponent in our way to the top this time. We must pay some special attention to him."

"Noted, Regiment Commander. I will keep an eye on it," replied Ah Li immediately. His mecha piloting skills were average, but he was very skilled in collecting intel. The regiment commander had deliberately wasted a member slot to bring him along, just so he could utilise this specialty of his. He naturally could not let his regiment commander down.

Jiang Shaoyu trusted in Ah Li's abilities; thus, he put the matter of Lin Xiao to one side and then glanced meaningfully at Ah Li. Ah Li immediately picked up on what his regiment commander wanted and quickly reported what his regiment commander was most eager to know. "Those two girls from before ... the strong and handsome one is called Han Xuya, a second-year Mecha Piloting student. The sweet and delicate one is called Luo Chao, a second-year Starship Navigation student."

"Why are second-years being allowed to participate in the Mecha Grand Tournament now?" Jiang Shaoyu rubbed his jaw in confusion. Mind you, with the exception of truly outstanding students, those who earned the right to participate in the Mecha Grand Tournament were typically almost all students in their fourth year and above.

Ah Li had gathered his intel well — he immediately explained, "That Luo Chao is extremely outstanding. The competition she will be participating in is the Starship Navigation contest. As for Han Xuya, I heard that Luo Chao had personally sought out Lin Xiao to ask for a member slot for her ..."

Ah Li thought about the gossip he had inadvertently overheard — it appeared that there was a lot of internal disagreement as well over the participation rights of these two girls. Even in casual conversation, the members of their academy had not forgotten to grumble about it.

"Ah Li, say, do you think Lin Xiao is also interested in that Luo Chao, which is why he did this?" A lewd smile appeared on Jiang Shaoyu's lips. He had the feeling that Lin Xiao must definitely be like him in having an ulterior motive towards Luo Chao.

Ah Li thought about that delicate and beautiful face of Luo Chao's which inspired care and affection, and he said somewhat uncertainly, "Perhaps."

"Right, have you found out why they were at the registration area?" Jiang Shaoyu moved on to ask.

Ah Li said regretfully, "I couldn't find out anything on that. The staff members of the registration hall are very tight-lipped. They wouldn't tell me anything no matter what I tried." Ah Li could not know that the staff at the registration hall were definitely not as professional as he imagined — the key reason why he did not succeed was that he was not a beautiful girl, so he did not have that instant-kill effect that Luo Chao had ...

"Continue to observe their actions closely. If they go out, remember to notify me." Jiang Shaoyu was not disappointed in these results. He gave the instruction for Ah Li to continue following the two before sending Ah Li away.

********

The next day, which was also the final day before the Mecha Grand Tournament would begin, the marketplace around the tournament area entered its first peak in activity. The entire place was bustling and hectic — there were people everywhere one looked. Even a few cadets who would be participating in the tournament could not help but be curious and take some time out of their busy schedules to browse the market, planning to try and find a bauble or two.

Meanwhile, after Luo Lang and the rest were done registering that night, Luo Lang had gone with Qi Long and Han Jijyun to look for his sister at the First Co-ed Military Academy area and told the two girls where they were staying and their room numbers. Therefore, early this morning, Luo Chao and Han Xuya, who had long wanted to go browse the marketplace, had come to the living area of the First Men's Military Academy, planning to seek Boss Lan and the other boys out to be their escorts 4 .

The arrival of the two pretty sisters in the First Men's Military Academy area which was filled with only boys naturally caused a commotion. However, when the boys heard Han Xuya say that they were here to find Boss Lan, the ardour of the First Men's Military Academy students was instantly extinguished. They did not have the guts or the confidence to try and steal Boss Lan's women, unless they had strength at the level of Qiao Ting ...

Implicated for no reason, Qiao Ting wanted to state that he had no interest at all in younger sisters — the one he liked was the Federation's goddess of healing, Li Yinfei. As such, he definitely would not ever clash with Boss Lan over this.

Frankly, the shy little Luo Chao had not wanted to come find Boss Lan directly — she felt that this was way too stressful. However, Han Xuya believed that if Luo Chao continued to be shy like this, she definitely would not be able to break through to that thousand-year-old iceberg Boss Lan. For the sake of her sworn sister's happiness, Han Xuya ultimately decided to ignore Luo Chao's wishes and dragged Luo Chao by her little hand right up to the door of Boss Lan's room.

"Xu ... Xuya, are ... are we really ... going to knock on the door?" Luo Chao was already so frightened that she could not speak properly. Even though she liked Boss Lan, when faced with that cold face of Boss Lan's, she still could not help being timid! Aaaaaah!

"Luo Chao, do you not want to become Boss Lan's girlfriend? If you continue to hold back like this, Boss Lan will one day be snatched away by someone else," said Han Xuya in frustration.

"Who will ... snatch?" Han Xuya's words made Luo Chao's small face turn white. Helplessly, facing her fingers, she retorted weakly, "Boss Lan is attending the First Men's Military Academy. There are no girls."

Han Xuya scoffed and flicked her communicator open with a snapping sound. A virtual screen appeared on her communicator and, on the screen, a seductive and enchanting woman was displayed, so beautiful that it dazzled the senses. Luo Chao looked at the picture and said somewhat uncomprehendingly, "Xuya, why are you showing me this picture?"

"Li Yinfei, the Federation's soul songstress, also the Federation's goddess of healing. Last year, she performed at the First Men's Military Academy, and she has also announced before that her future husband must be a king among men." Han Xuya quirked an eyebrow at Luo Chao and said with a smirk, "You think Boss Lan cannot become a king in the future?"

Luo Chao's lips trembled and her face paled even further, no longer sporting any trace of colour. Han Xuya felt rather sorry at the sight, but thinking about Luo Chao's personality, if she did not force Luo Chao this time, Luo Chao definitely would not take the initiative to step forwards. For the sake of her good friend's future happiness, she needed to harden her heart and give Luo Chao a good hard shove.

"If you still don't take the initiative, by the time Boss Lan becomes a king in future, do you think you can still beat Li Yinfei? That's a national goddess! According to my cousin brother, Boss Lan has a liking for Li Yinfei!" Han Xuya dealt another heavy blow, shattering that final bit of assurance Luo Chao was harbouring.

Although Luo Chao's face was as white as paper, her initially unsteady gaze suddenly became steady. She was silent for several seconds, and then she finally made up her mind and said softly, "I ... I won't hold back anymore."

Only then did Han Xuya close the virtual screen, satisfied. With a jerk of her chin, she motioned for Luo Chao to go knock on the door.

Right then, Luo Chao and Han Xuya did not know that while they had been talking outside the door, someone had coincidentally come to look for Ling Lan as well. When he was about to turn the corner into the corridor, he had heard the voices of the two girls before he had made the turn. He had instinctively shrunk back to hide behind the wall and in doing so had overheard their conversation.

"Rabbit likes Li Yinfei? How can that be?" Li Lanfeng's face was a picture of disbelief as he tried to digest this piece of information he had just heard. He had spent so much time together with Ling Lan, but he had never heard Ling Lan even mention Li Yinfei's name.

Who were these two girls? Luo Chao? Xuya? From their conversation, Li Lanfeng quickly deduced their identities. They should be Luo Lang's sister, Luo Chao, and Han Jijyun's younger cousin sister, Han Xuya. And when Han Xuya said that she had gotten this news from her cousin brother, she must have meant Han Jijyun. Could it be that the rabbit had told Han Jijyun about this?

At the thought, Li Lanfeng felt extremely lost and bitter. So he still could not compare to those little companions who had grown up alongside the rabbit — that's why the rabbit would rather tell Han Jijyun and the rest but not him ... Li Lanfeng could not help but split hairs 5 , his heart growing colder and colder, his mind turning dark and blank as he felt as if he was being abandoned by his rabbit ...

"Ding dong, ding dong!" Ling Lan, who was currently practising her Qi exercises on the balcony, heard the doorbell ring. She walked into her room, pulled her uniform from its hangar and put it on, and only then did she walk to the door and open it.

Ling Lan was dressed in a sharp pressed white uniform — the moment she appeared before Luo Chao and Han Xuya, the two girls felt an invisible wave of pressure pressing down on them. Even the bold and audacious Han Xuya could not help but shudder, feeling her legs grow a little weak. She silently gulped, trying to give herself courage.

Luo Chao was in an even worse state. Her initially pale little face was now flushed a brilliant red and looked as if it would catch fire in the next moment. Han Xuya was both surprised and resigned at Luo Chao's state. She was surprised that Luo Chao was not at all afraid of Ling Lan, but she was also resigned to see that as soon as Luo Chao saw Boss Lan, Luo Chao's soul had been completely sucked away, leaving her only capable of blushing.

Chapter 436: Shopping!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

Ling Lan was surprised to see who was outside her door. She asked, "How did you all come here?" She leaned slightly to one side, motioning for the two girls to come in.

Han Xuya saw that Luo Chao was completely immobile now, so she decisively grabbed Luo Chao's hand and pulled her into the room.

Only then did Ling Lan close the door, turn around, and ask, "What would you all like to drink?"

Ling Lan was very happy to see Luo Chao and Han Xuya again. She actually really wanted to have several good girl friends to gossip with and talk about feelings and so on ... though looking at the current circumstances, this wish was impossible to realize.

Face red, Luo Chao stuttered, "A-anything is f-fine, Boss Lan."

However, Han Xuya did not stand on ceremony. "I want to drink Aimuro juice." Aimuro was an extremely rare and precious fruit, and so the juice extracted from it was also extremely expensive. Hence, Han Xuya was normally reluctant to drink it, but she had no need to be polite with Boss Lan here; after all, Boss Lan was the second generation of a top-level military family in the Federation — the amount of pocket money he had must be staggering ...

At this notion, Han Xuya felt resentment stir in her heart. Why were Boss Lan's parents so willing to give him so much credits, while her parents were so calculative? Every time she went to them to ask for some pocket money, they would even ask her for a full accounting of her expenses. Her heart ached just thinking about it.

Han Xuya came to the profound realisation that, sure enough, other people's parents were always the best.

Just as Han Xuya believed, Ling Lan did not care at all about that amount of credits. Leaving aside the credits her parents gave to her, her omnipotent Little Four could already help her earn countless credits in a never-ending supply — no matter how she spent, the credits never ran out.

In this way, under Luo Chao's reticent shyness and Han Xuya's decisive help when she could not take her friend's timidity anymore, Ling Lan finally figured out why the two girls had come looking for her. She considered how she really had nothing much to do today anyway, and so agreed to go shopping with them.

They had yet to leave the house, however, when Ling Lan's doorbell rang again. Ling Lan opened the door to see Li Lanfeng standing there, and she asked curiously, "Leopard, what's up?"

Li Lanfeng glanced into the room and saw the two girls sitting on the sofa in the rabbit's room. Li Lanfeng had not forgotten what they had said earlier, about how Luo Chao really liked the rabbit. He wondered if she had already confessed. It was rather unexpected that his rabbit was younger than him by three years, and yet the peach blossoms were already blooming everywhere in his vicinity 1 . This left an astringent taste in Li Lanfeng's heart — even he himself did not have a girlfriend yet; this was a little disgraceful ...

"You have guests?" Li Lanfeng tried hard to tamp down on the rising sourness in his heart and pretended as if he had just caught sight of the girls, his face filled with surprise.

"Yes, my two sisters. We're going to go shop at the marketplace," said Ling Lan breezily.

Li Lanfeng's expression turned pleased at those words. "What a coincidence. I too was about to ask you to go shopping together. Why don't we all go together?"

Ling Lan considered it and agreed. She felt that she might be too busy to handle both girls — it would be safer with Li Lanfeng coming along as well. Ling Lan did not forget that Luo Chao's outstanding beauty was just like Luo Lang's, capable of causing trouble on the scale of Helen of Troy.

By the time Ling Lan and company departed, however, the group was no longer just the four of them because they had bumped into Qi Long as they were leaving. When this fellow Qi Long heard that Boss was going shopping, he was instantly ecstatic. He very quickly summoned a large group of people, so in the end, it became a trip involving the entire Lingtian Battle Clan. The twelve members rushed towards the marketplace in high spirits.

*******

Meanwhile, on the Second Men's Military Academy's end, after receiving news that Luo Chao and Han Xuya were going shopping with a group of people from the First Men's Military Academy, Jiang Shaoyu also led his own battle clan out after them ...

As they had much more people now, Lingtian split into two groups. Luo Chao and Han Xuya were with Ling Lan, Li Lanfeng, Luo Lang, and Zhao Jun 2 , while Qi Long's group included Han Jijyun, Lin Zhong-qing, Xie Yi, Chang Xinyuan, and Li Shiyu.

Compared to Luo Chao's group which was planning to shop around aimlessly, Qi Long's group was much more purposeful. As the team's specialised researchers, Li Shiyu and Chang Xinyuan would instantly buy anything which would be beneficial to their research, while the head logistician Lin Zhong-qing would not forget to gather useful resources for his battle clan. Luckily, Ling Lan was prepared for this. Before the two groups went their separate ways, she transferred a large bulk of credits to Lin Zhong-qing. That figure was enough to make even Lin Zhong-qing, who managed the finances of the Lingtian Battle Clan, to tremble, feeling as if he would be flattened by the sheer weight of all those credits. It was clear to see how large this sum of credits was.

As Ling Lan's team browsed the stalls, compared to the impatience that gradually surfaced on Luo Lang's and Zhao Jun's faces, Ling Lan and Li Lanfeng were much more composed. They sat in a rest area, patiently waiting for Luo Chao and Han Xuya to finish trying out clothes.

When Luo Lang could take it no longer, he stared across the street with stars in his eyes. There was a mecha equipment store there and he really wanted to go take a look.

"Boss, I'll be going over there to take a look. I'll be right back," Luo Lang finally spoke up to say. He no longer wanted to accompany his younger sister while she shopped for clothes.

Zhao Jun's eyes lit up at his words and he quickly joined in to say, "I'll go too."

Ling Lan waved nonchalantly. "Go!" And then, Zhao Jun and Luo Lang could be seen running over to the store like they were being chased by demons.

Ling Lan found it rather funny and turned to ask Li Lanfeng sitting beside her, "Leopard, is accompanying girls to buy clothes such an unbearable thing?" Although Ling Lan did not have the chance to personally try on these pretty outfits before her eyes, she was happy just looking at them. That was why she did not find waiting for the girls tiring at all and was instead happy to do so.

Li Lanfeng seemed to be in a bit of a bad mood. He said lowly, "If you value the girl, then no matter how you accompany her, you will feel happy ... Rabbit, that ... girl inside, do you value her a lot?"

Ling Lan smiled and replied, "They are my dear little sisters. How can I not value them?"

Are they really just little sisters? If they were just little sisters to Ling Lan, then why couldn't Luo Lang endure it? And Luo Lang was even Luo Chao's actual biological brother ... Li Lanfeng cast a searching look at Ling Lan, trying to judge the truth of Ling Lan's words. Truth be told, Li Lanfeng did not really wish to see Ling Lan have a girlfriend right now. He just had the feeling that the friendship between Ling Lan and himself was still a distance away from his ideal; thus, Li Lanfeng did not want for a girlfriend to pop up and influence Ling Lan right at this critical period.

********

In the fitting room, blushing, Luo Chao was holding onto a gauzy dress Ling Lan had chosen for her, completely zoned out. Seeing this, Han Xuya nudged her helplessly and said, "Don't just stand there. Change quickly and go out to dazzle the hell out of Boss Lan."

Han Xuya's words made Luo Chao's face turn even redder, but she was at least aware again now to begin changing her clothes. As she changed, Luo Chao suddenly turned to ask Han Xuya, "That Big Brother Li ... doesn't he seem to dislike me?"

Taken aback, Han Xuya asked urgently, "Did you sense something?"

Luo Chao frowned as if trying to recall something. "Every time I try to talk to Boss Lan, he always interrupts and changes the topic. He seems to have something against me."

Han Xuya's expression turned serious as she began thinking back on everything that had happened along the way here. She found that it was really as Luo Chao had said — whether intentionally or not, that person called Li Lanfeng had been subtly trying to exclude them from their conversations. If Luo Chao had not brought it up, Han Xuya might not even have noticed.

However, that Li Lanfeng had been constantly smiling, and when he spoke to them, his tone had always been gentle and polite. He had not shown any sign of disliking them — could it be that they were just being overly sensitive? Han Xuya voiced this possibility and Luo Chao bit her own lip, unable to tell for sure. They could only decide to continue observing the situation.

********

Very soon, they were done changing and they walked out of the fitting room. The customers browsing the racks in the store saw a seductive witch and an ethereal fairy step out, and their eyes lit up instantly.

Han Xuya pulled the bashful Luo Chao right up to Ling Lan and then asked directly, "Boss Lan, are we pretty?"

Truly, humans were visual animals — even though Ling Lan was a girl like them, she was still stunned by the beauty of Han Xuya and Luo Chao. She nodded and praised, "Not bad, the clothes suit you both very well."

Luo Chao's face was extremely red, but she could not conceal her joy at these words. Her lips curved up into a small smile.

Li Lanfeng also smiled and said, "Yes, these two little sisters are really great beauties. They look lovely no matter what they wear." The sincere praise made Luo Chao and Han Xuya feel rather ashamed — it looked like they had misunderstood this Big Brother Li.

Just as Luo Chao and Han Xuya were preparing to change back to their own clothes and pay for their selections, a great commotion suddenly broke out from the store across the street. Quite a few customers ran out from that store in a panic. When Ling Lan saw this, her expression changed. She had not forgotten that Luo Lang and Zhao Jun had gone over to that store.

"Leopard, you stay here and protect Luo Chao and Han Xuya. I'll go over there to check things out." Ling Lan was decisive. She summarily entrusted Luo Chao and Han Xuya to Li Lanfeng, and then with a quick dash, she had disappeared from the store.

"Where is Boss Lan going?" Han Xuya saw Ling Lan disappear before their eyes and quickly turned to ask Li Lanfeng.

"He has gone to the other side to take a look. Go pay for your things first. We'll talk more later," instructed Li Lanfeng. The smile that had been on his face had disappeared and there was a trace of grimness in his expression. Just now, he had sensed some displacement in the air coming from the other side — it looked like a fight had broken out there and the physical skills levels of the people involved were not low. He wondered if it could be Luo Lang and Zhao Jun.

********

After leaving the women's clothing store, Luo Lang and Zhao Jun had run straight for the mecha equipment store. As this market was a temporary one, its layout was rather chaotic. You might have just passed a small eatery, only to find a weapons store next door selling guns and ammunition. For instance, this mecha equipment store they just entered was surrounded by either clothing stores or jewellery stores, which were all somewhat incongruous with a mecha equipment store.

The items in the equipment store were varied and comprehensive. There were energy packs, medical packs, weaponry bags, and even quite a lot of precious materials from various planets. These materials could be used to modify mecha and could also be used to forge weapons; as such, there were quite a number of cadets inside this store.

As the Mecha Grand Tournament used real mecha 3 , everyone wanted to find equipment that could strengthen their mecha's combat power before the tournament began. This was also why equipment stores were the prime target for cadets to visit.

Luo Lang looked at a cold weapon in the store in surprise. The weapon actually looked extremely similar to Regretless which Boss Lan used inside Mecha World. The long, narrow, and thin pitch-black blade raised concerns about whether the 7-metre sword would hold up in battle.

"This sword, it's so familiar!" Following Luo Lang's line of sight, Zhao Jun also caught sight of the sword and, like Luo Lang, he was also extremely surprised.

Luo Lang could not stop himself from walking to stand right below the giant sword to try and see what material was used to forge it. He found that the material was not one he knew.

A shop helper standing to one side saw how interested Luo Lang was in the giant sword, and so he approached him to introduce it, saying, "This sword is called Firmament 4 . It is made from a newly discovered material. Don't look down on it for its long and narrow blade as it is actually very sturdy. And this Firmament has a special characteristic — the blade has a certain degree of flexibility."

Chapter 437: Harassment!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

"Flexibility?" Luo Lang was even more surprised by this new fact. He knew that his boss's Regretless also possessed a certain degree of flexibility.

"Yes. If you are interested, sir, you can open up the protective cover and test it out personally," suggested the shop assistant.

Luo Lang nodded and the shop assistant turned off the protective cover. Under the prompting of the shop assistant, Luo Lang pressed down on the body of the sword and sure enough, the sword bent a little under the force of his fingers. When he stopped pressing down, the blade bounced back to normal.

"It's a good weapon. How much for this Firmament?" Luo Lang's first thought was that this sword was very suitable for his boss and so he inquired about it.

"Because its material is rare and precious, it is several times more expensive than normal cold weapons." The shop assistant displayed the price of Firmament to Luo Lang, and Luo Lang's complexion changed. This was not just a matter of 'several times' ... that price — even if he added up everything he owned, he still would not be able to buy the hilt of the sword.

Resigned, Luo Lang said, "Hold onto this sword for me for now. Wait for a moment and I'll bring someone over to take a look. If he's satisfied with it, we'll buy it."

The shop assistant smiled and replied, "Alright." This kind of situation was not uncommon — many interested customers were defeated in the end by this astronomical price, but many of them would still leave this request behind. Unfortunately, none of them had ever returned to purchase the sword.

"What does the beauty want? Perhaps I can be of assistance." Right at this moment, a voice rang out from behind Luo Lang.

Luo Lang instantly frowned. He turned his head and saw a young man with a rather flirty expression on his face smiling at him. It was the team leader of the team from the Second Men's Military Academy, Jiang Shaoyu.

Luo Lang's brow furrowed, a trace of anger passing swiftly through his eyes. If Boss had not cautioned him not to cause trouble, he definitely would have taught the other a lesson then and there. Luo Lang could tell from the other's actions that this was definitely yet another person who had taken a liking to his looks.

Luo Lang glared scathingly at Jiang Shaoyu and made a move to leave, planning to bring Boss over to buy Firmament. He was just passing by Jiang Shaoyu when Jiang Shaoyu actually reached out his right hand all of a sudden to try and grab Luo Lang's right wrist.

With a slide step, Luo Lang evaded the other's lecherous hand 1 , glared at him, and said, "What are you trying to do?"

Zhao Jun had also figured out that the other did not have any good intentions. He took a brisk step forwards to stand beside Luo Lang, glaring coldly at Jiang Shaoyu. Zhao Jun's move was a signal for the boys behind Jiang Shaoyu to come closer as well, and they quickly surrounded Luo Lang and Zhao Jun.

"What? You want a fight?" Zhao Jun was furious and looked like he was going to charge forwards and brawl if things deteriorated any further. This was perfectly in line with his burly and irritable public image.

A mocking smirk hung on Jiang Shaoyu's lips. This kind of muscle-headed, simple-minded person was nothing to worry about. He sent a glance at the team member beside him who immediately understood what he wanted. That team member led six people to push closer towards Zhao Jun, attempting to separate Zhao Jun from Luo Lang.

Seeing this, Zhao Jun did not hesitate to meet them, and in the back and forth of battle, he was unwittingly drawn away from Luo Lang's side.

Luo Lang was extremely surprised that Zhao Jun had been successfully drawn away. Even though Zhao Jun had not joined Lingtian for more than half a year, Luo Lang, who trained with him very often, knew that this fellow was not that simple. If you really took him for a brawny hot-tempered simpleton, you would definitely die cluelessly by the other's hand ... that fellow was really very black-bellied.

Sure enough, when Luo Lang glanced at Zhao Jun, he caught a quick surreptitious look in return from the latter. With that, Luo Lang knew that the fellow had to be plotting something and so did not bother worrying about him any further.

Having gotten rid of the person in his way, Jiang Shaoyu was in a good mood. He consoled Luo Lang with a bright smile, saying, "Little beauty, don't be mad. Your big brother here just wants to be friends with you 2 ."

Jiang Shaoyu's sudden politeness was definitely not because he had suddenly had a fit of conscience and was planning to let Luo Lang go. Rather, compared to that delicate and bashful look of Luo Chao's, Luo Lang's face was currently flushed red from anger and his eyes were blazing as well, making him shine radiantly. Luo Lang looked just like a proud blooming red rose, stealing Jiang Shaoyu's breath away.

His heart was beating wildly — even a veteran playboy like him could not resist that soul-stealing allure of Luo Lang's, and he found himself drunk on it. Though he had initially only had plans to fool around with the other, for the first time, he had the desire to chain the other within his embrace forever. He wished for this dazzling woman before him to only bloom before him.

"Be friends?" The corners of Luo Lang's lips turned up slightly, a trace of killing intent seeping out from his narrowed eyes. Luo Lang most hated people whose hearts turned ugly due to his face.

"Yes, as long as you give this elder brother a chance, I will definitely satisfy you." Perhaps Jiang Shaoyu had been mesmerized by Luo Lang's appearance, for he actually did not notice Luo Lang's swelling rage that was about to blow or his uncontrollable killing intent. He even spoke up once more to tease the other, his words somewhat unclean and lewd. Done speaking, he fearlessly stepped forwards and reached out his right hand again, trying to touch Luo Lang's pert face to sample the other's soft tofu.

"How dare you!" Pushed beyond the boundaries of tolerance, Luo Lang finally acted. His right fist shot out at Jiang Shaoyu's face, charged with the strength of the peak level of early stage Qi-Jin.

Jiang Shaoyu was the number one of the Second Men's Military Academy, after all, so he was able to react instantly to Luo Lang's sudden outburst. His lecherous right hand changed directions midway to meet Luo Lang's angry fist.

A loud 'boom' rang out! Two powerful hidden forces clashed head to head. Due to the powerful concussive force generated by the clash, the surrounding people found themselves unable to keep their footing. Those people surrounding Zhao Jun were forced by the pressure of these two hidden forces to take several steps back, distancing themselves from Luo Lang and Jiang Shaoyu. Meanwhile, when he felt the powerful concussive force, Zhao Jun's eyes flickered. Then, he pretended like he too was unable to bear the force and stumbled back several steps along with Jiang Shaoyu's men.

Luo Lang and Jiang Shaoyu forcefully exchanged blows, and the two of them wavered simultaneously, though their feet remained planted firmly on the ground. Luo Lang's brow furrowed — he had not expected this person before him to have equally strong physical skills as himself, and the other may perhaps even be a little better. It should be known that he had been the one to initiate the attack while the other had only reacted hastily to block it, yet the outcome was a draw ... this made Luo Lang cautious; he could not flip his boat in the gutter once again. Last year, he had fallen for another's schemes and that experience had been lesson enough for Luo Lang.

"Qi-Jin stage?!" Jiang Shaoyu's smile had faded as well. He could never have imagined that a girl he had inadvertently taken a shine to would have such strong physical skills, completely inconsistent with her soft and gentle appearance.

"Aren't you the same?" Luo Lang smiled grimly but did not continue to attack. Instead, he swept a swift glance around the store to see whether the opponent still had any hidden tricks lying in wait.

Right then, there were not many people in the store anymore. Luo Lang and Jiang Shaoyu's exchange and the resulting concussive wave had shown that the people in the store that these two were definitely masters at Qi-Jin stage. In order to avoid being injured in the crossfire, the customers in the store had all run out. Other than those people who had come with Jiang Shaoyu, those who still dared to remain behind were all those who were very confident in themselves, masters in their own right. As for the staff of the store, they had long hidden themselves away from the fight.

The reason why no one had stepped up to discourage the fighting was that all the merchandise of the store were already being protected by protective covers. Unless the combatants hit a cover directly, the shockwaves alone would not damage the items.

"How interesting. Who would have guessed that the girl I fancy would actually turn out to be a Qi-Jin master." Jiang Shaoyu licked his lips in excitement, growing ever more interested in Luo Lang. Thinking about it, he had never fooled around with a Qi-Jin stage woman before ... the more he thought about the prospect, the more excited he became.

"Girl?" Luo Lang was stunned for a moment, but he was soon so angry that his pert face was bright red. He had initially thought the other was bent and had only been attracted by his face — he had not expected that the other had completely mistaken him for a girl. Wasn't this just another way of saying that he, Luo Lang, was like a girl? It was definitely an insult to him.

Livid, the momentum of Luo Lang's peak early stage Qi-Jin was finally unleashed in its full glory. Being the closest to him, Jiang Shaoyu's face could not help but change. He had never expected Luo Lang's force of presence to be this strong ...

Jiang Shaoyu's gaze flickered and then he suddenly shouted, "All together now!" And then, he was the first to leap at Luo Lang. When he attacked this time, not only was Jiang Shaoyu using his full strength, he was also being extremely ruthless. He needed to take this girl away with him before the law enforcement team of the marketplace arrived on the scene; otherwise, he would need to wait for another chance to obtain the other. And now that the other had already suffered this encounter, she would probably stay cloistered within her school's accommodation area until the end of the tournament. In the accommodation areas, surveillance was very tight, so it would be impossible for him to act.

Of course, he was not afraid of being too harsh in his attack and harming the other too much — a Qi-Jin stage master had extremely high endurance and resilience. At the same time, their recovery ability was also extremely robust, and with the addition of current technology, as long as the other still had a breath left within them, it would be possible to save them.

Perhaps Jiang Shaoyu's members had constantly been involved in this sort of shenanigans, for when Jiang Shaoyu gave the order, none of them hesitated at all. Even those who had been keeping Zhao Jun busy turned to leap at Luo Lang as well, planning to strike him down and cart him away.

"Bam, bam, bam!" Those men leaping towards Luo Lang were suddenly smacked onto the ground. Those close by turned around to look and found that Zhao Jun, whom they had neglected, was standing over the men. He had efficiently struck them down within the span of several seconds.

Jiang Shaoyu and Luo Lang once again engaged in battle. This time, the two of them were unable to retain their footing. Both of them stumbled back several steps, though Luo Lang had to retreat three steps more than Jiang Shaoyu. This proved that Jiang Shaoyu was stronger than Luo Lang.

"Early stage advanced level Qi-Jin." Luo Lang swallowed, trying to calm the roiling qi and blood in his chest. He stared at the other darkly — the opponent was several realms higher than himself; he was completely suppressed by the other.

Jiang Shaoyu did not respond but instead looked towards Zhao Jun, who was not too far from them, with a shadowed expression. "Qi-Jin? I did not expect your companion to be this strong. He seems a little bit stronger than you." His members were basically all at the peak of Refinement, just one step away from entering Qi-Jin. For him to defeat them so readily, Zhao Jun had to be at Qi-Jin stage, and the ease with which he did so made Jiang Shaoyu reckon that he must already be at the middle stages of Qi-Jin. The only question was which minor ranking he was at.

At these words, Luo Lang answered proudly, "As my teammate, being strong is a must."

Jiang Shaoyu's heart sank. The other's assured demeanour showed that she was not lying. He did not expect this hulking fellow beside Luo Chao 3 to not be her escort but a teammate from the same battle clan. From this, it could be predicted that her other teammates would definitely be not much weaker either. If her teammates managed to rush over here in time ...

Chapter 438: Peerless Prodigy!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

Jiang Shaoyu's eyes narrowed and he ran through some quick calculations mentally. Should he just give up now? But when he looked at that proud and lovely appearance of Luo Lang, his heart itched something fierce. He could not bear to just give up on such a delectable girl. Perhaps hoping for some lucky break, he instantly came to a decision. He shouted to the members still standing, "Number 3!"

This cry startled Zhao Jun and Luo Lang, but before they could figure out what Jiang Shaoyu meant when he called out this number, they saw Jiang Shaoyu's group whip out spherical objects from the bags at their waists.

As soon as Luo Lang and Zhao Jun saw this, they knew that something was not right. These things were sure to be bad for them. The two shared a glance and then leapt in silent rapport towards the respective opponents they had targeted, trying to stop them from carrying out their next move.

Despite how quickly Zhao Jun and Luo Lang reacted, they were still not faster than their opponents. Before the two could reach them, their opponents flicked the item in their hands and a column of green smoke was sent straight at them from the spherical objects. Zhao Jun and Luo Lang did not have time to dodge and plunged head first into the smoke.

The two of them smelled a light fragrance and, in the next second, their heads began to swim.

A soporific? Shocked, the two of them decisively moved to bite down on the tips of their tongues, thinking to use the sharp pain to chase away their dizziness. They soon found that it was useless, however, because they had already lost their strength. Their entire body felt weak, so weak that they could not even move their jaw to bite down.

"Crap!" The two of them were extremely frustrated at this moment; they did not expect that they would still fall for the opponents' scheme. Just now, they had still been too careless.

"Grab them both." Jiang Shaoyu saw the two of them finally succumb and fall over, and his lips pulled up into a satisfied smile as he gave orders to his men.

"Yes, Leader!" The team members immediately moved forwards to do as their leader had said when a white light suddenly flashed across their eyes. After that, they felt themselves being struck by a massive force and were sent flying back uncontrollably to crash heavily to the ground.

Some of the weaker members instantly spewed blood from their mouths, their entire bodies slumped on the ground, unable to stand up for that moment.

Jiang Shaoyu's eyes narrowed and the smug smile on his face stiffened. A white-clothed youth was currently already standing right in front of Zhao Jun and Luo Lang. His face was cold and emotionless, and when his placid gaze swept over to look at Jiang Shaoyu, Jiang Shaoyu actually felt a chill creeping over his heart. Due to his arrival, the temperature of the entire mecha equipment store instantly dropped several degrees and those people still within the store could not help but shiver.

"You ... are planning to take my people?" The other spoke. His cold voice, cold gaze, and cold expression seemed calm, but Jiang Shaoyu could still sense the turbulent storm underneath the calm surface. An unprecedented sense of pressure descended in the ensuing silence.

Jiang Shaoyu was able to become the number one in the Second Men's Military Academy and the leader for the representative team of his school to this Mecha Grand Tournament because he was a steady and determined person. Although Ling Lan's unexpected appearance had caused him to waver, he had soon regained his composure and had begun to study this new opponent, trying to figure out his stats and considering how he should handle him.

White was an uncommon colour for uniforms among the military academies of the Federation, and the other's uniform was very well made, so it definitely would not be some ordinary uniform ... a notion sparked through Jiang Shaoyu's mind. He had thought of the First Men's Military Academy. A dux would be chosen from every year of students from every specialization and white was the exclusive colour for the uniforms of those duxes. Jiang Shaoyu combined this knowledge with the information he had received, about how Luo Chao had gone shopping with the First Men's Military Academy ...

Jiang Shaoyu could pretty much guarantee at this point that this austere youth was most likely a student from the First Men's Military Academy. However, this person did not look at all familiar, so he could not be the well-known Qiao Ting. Could he be the dux of some other specialization?

This speculation calmed Jiang Shaoyu considerably. Even though he kept feeling as if he had overlooked something, he still had a lot of confidence in himself. He definitely would not allow someone to interfere and make him lose face, so he said with a sneer, "This is a matter between myself and the First Co-ed Military Academy. Are you, a dux from the First Men's Military Academy, also going to try and be a hero and meddle in this matter?"

If Qiao Ting was the one who had stepped in, he might perhaps have given Qiao Ting some face. But as for this punk who had come from god knows where ... did he think that he could swagger around as he liked just because he was a dux from the First Academy? Hmph, he was thinking too highly of himself and looking down on others too much!

"The First Co-ed Military Academy?" Ling Lan's eyes narrowed, and the temperature around her dropped several more degrees. She smiled coldly and said, "I did not know myself — when had my team members entered the Co-ed Military Academy?" After bullying her people, the other actually dared to fabricate lies and find unreasonable excuses? Even though the First Men's Military Academy had been suppressed by the Second Men's Military Academy for seven consecutive tournaments, this did not mean that they from the First Men's Military Academy were pushovers!

By this time, Ling Lan had also been able to determine which school the opponents were from based on their uniforms. The other side was behaving in such an arrogant and audacious manner, likely in large part due to their academy's results for the past seven tournaments. Their heads were swollen beyond belief.

Hearing what Ling Lan said, Jiang Shaoyu sneered back just as coldly and pointed at Luo Lang, saying, "This sweet and delicate little beauty ... is also from your First Men's Military Academy? I never knew that men's academies were taking in females now."

Only then did Ling Lan understand what this commotion was all about. She threw a glance at that troublesome face of Luo Lang and sighed mentally. No wonder he had been mistaken for a girl. This fellow had unexpectedly grown to look more and more like a girl as the years added up — he was so enchanting that it was hard to distinguish whether he was male or female ... no, to be accurate, the more one looked at him, the more one would think he was a girl.

Ling Lan felt deeply hurt by this. Say, why had no one ever mistaken her for a girl? Er ... well, these words were slightly skewed. She was a girl to begin with, so the question should be — why the hell did everyone just accept that she was a boy? She could be considered quite lovely, right? Ling Lan had the utmost confidence in the genes of both her parents ...

"D*mmit, who's a girl now?" Right then, Luo Lang and Zhao Jun who had been slumped on the ground suddenly stood up. Luo Lang cursed darkly and then turned his head to complain piteously to Ling Lan, "Boss, you didn't have to be so harsh in giving us the antidote. "

He gritted his teeth and bore the pain as he plucked a miniature syringe from his neck. Apparently, while Ling Lan had been rushing forwards to prevent their capture, she had not forgotten to shoot out two miniature antidote syringes to clear the drugs from the system of the two boys on the ground.

Likewise, Zhao Jun deftly plucked the syringe from his neck. At this moment, his expression was stony — he felt very humiliated that he had actually been caught by the opponent's scheme, and in front of his own clan leader to boot!

Ling Lan could not bear to look directly at that pitiful look of Luo Lang's — she turned her head away and said coldly, "If you have any objections, you can go discuss them with our clan doctor personally."

Ling Lan's words made Luo Lang's pitiful expression vanish instantly, and his face even looked a little twisted. The present Senior Li Shiyu was no longer that nice guy senior who had first joined the battle clan. Under constant exposure to his boss, Li Shiyu had already been stained absolutely black and had become corrupted. He, who had originally only known to focus on creating good medicine of healing, had now also begun to manufacture poisonous agents. Luo Lang recalled how he had been tormented savagely with agents once when he had offended Senior Li Shiyu by accident, and he could not stop his body from trembling ... he absolutely would not go and seek out Senior Li Shiyu!

Luo Lang abruptly turned his head to stare at Jiang Shaoyu. Since he did not dare to argue with Boss, then he would need to find some other place to vent his emotions. This person who had mistaken him for a girl was definitely a very good option for a punching bag — he turned fully to face Jiang Shaoyu and asked fiercely, "Actually saying this lord is a girl, hells, which part of this lord looks like a girl, huh?!"

At his words, an answer surfaced unbidden in Ling Lan's and Zhao Jun's hearts. 'Other than that extra bit you have below, everything else is like a girl.' Luckily, Luo Lang could not know what his boss and teammate were thinking, otherwise he would definitely ... challenge Zhao Jun to a duel. Boss was naturally excluded — Luo Lang did not want to die just yet.

Luo Lang's furious demeanour made a trace of wondrous appreciation pass through Jiang Shaoyu's eyes, but Luo Lang's words quickly snuffed that appreciation out. He had finally found what was off about the situation. Only now did he notice that the uniform Luo Lang was wearing was certainly not the uniform of the First Co-ed Military Academy. Although it was different in colour from the uniform on Ling Lan's body, it was in the exact same style. This meant that this beautiful and eye-catching girl before his eyes was in fact a boy, a student of the First Men's Military Academy.

Even though Jiang Shaoyu had noticed the problem, he still could not believe it. After all, this person before him looked exactly like the Luo Chao he had seen yesterday at the registration hall. Doggedly, he asked, "Are you not the second-year student from the First Co-ed Military Academy, Luo Chao from the Starship Navigation specialization?"

The moment he said this, the three of Ling Lan's group finally understood what all this had been about. So this person had mistaken Luo Lang for Luo Chao, leading to this mess.

"Hells, you actually dare to lust after my little sister? You're asking for it!" When Luo Lang learned that the other's intended target was his precious little sister instead of him, he was instantly consumed with rage. Without thinking, he threw a punch at Jiang Shaoyu.

Right then, Luo Lang's only thought was to beat this scum before him to death. Compared to being mistaken for a girl, this matter drove him crazy even more. How could he allow the little sister he kept cradled in the palm of his hands 1 to be coveted in such a lewd way by an outsider?! In Luo Lang's mind, the only one who could give Luo Chao happiness was his boss.

Jiang Shaoyu saw the other's angry fist coming right at him and without thinking, he met it with a punch of his own. There was a 'bam', and the two of them were sent stumbling back again respectively once more. Luo Lang's anger-infused attack actually did not benefit Jiang Shaoyu any, but similarly, Luo Lang had not gained the upper hand either in the attack. Their exchange ended in a draw.

Zhao Jun's feet shifted slightly, but Ling Lan suddenly stretched out an arm to stop him. She said softly, "You go finish off those small fry. Leave him to Luo Lang."

Zhao Jun nodded. He had initially been planning to help Luo Lang out a bit as, after all, the opponent was two ranks higher than Luo Lang — he was definitely no match for the opponent in a one-on-one fight. However, since the clan leader seemed to have a plan, Zhao Jun gave up on his original intention. He believed that with the clan leader as backing, Luo Lang would definitely be fine.

Setting aside his concern for Luo Lang, Zhao Jun turned to leap at the team members of Jiang Shaoyu. Zhao Jun had not forgotten how he and Luo Lang had been cornered by underhanded means earlier. This grudge had to be avenged.

Seeing Zhao Jun leap at them like a ferocious tiger, the remaining seven people glanced at each other and then, gritting their teeth, they surged up to meet him. Despite knowing the opponent was formidable, since their team leader had not said they could leave, as members of his team, they could only bite the bullet and push forwards.

On Zhao Jun's end, due to his strength exceeding the opponents by such a significant margin, he was handling all the attacks coming at him with ease despite being besieged from all sides by the other party. If not for the fact that these people worked well together, forcing Zhao Jun to look harder to find any openings, Zhao Jun would probably have brought these people down a long time ago.

Ling Lan saw that Zhao Jun was doing fine on his own, so she turned her full attention onto Luo Lang's fight. Right then, Luo Lang had already traded several blows with Jiang Shaoyu. Although Luo Lang's rage was off the charts, the gap between him and his opponent's physical skills stage was still slowly pushing Luo Lang into a disadvantageous position, and the situation was becoming increasingly unfavourable for him.

Ling Lan was not anxious, however, because Luo Lang still had an ace in the hole. As soon as he activated his innate talent, Luo Lang's strength would increase exponentially. The battle would only be truly decided then.

Sure enough, after Luo Lang and Jiang Shaoyu exchanged a few more blows, Jiang Shaoyu felt that victory was within his grasp. But then, he suddenly felt his heart skip a beat as a powerful sense of danger swept over him. Jiang Shaoyu reacted swiftly — he decisively discarded the advantageous situation at hand and slid back, instantly pulling several metres away from Luo Lang.

With a loud 'boom', Luo Lang's fists slammed into the ground. The ground caved in, creating a deep pit of about a metre wide. Not only that, with the pit as the centre point, a spider web of cracks spread outwards across the ground. This obviously massive display of strength not only caused Jiang Shaoyu's complexion to pale in shock, but even the face of the store owner was white as a sheet. He now realised that his store may very well be destroyed at the hands of these two people.

The store owner's reaction was caught unerringly by Ling Lan. Her body shook minutely and the hems of her crisp uniform suddenly swayed a little despite there being no wind. Those people still inside the store immediately felt the surrounding temperature plunge to freezing point. They all began circulating their internal energy, and only then did they manage to banish the chill from their bodies.

Among them was a middle-aged man who had been observing things from the side-lines. His eyes suddenly narrowed as a trace of shock coursed through them, his gaze fixed on Ling Lan who currently had her back to them.

Jiang Shaoyu's expression was currently extremely grim. The Luo Lang before him was already completely different from how he was before. His initially lively pretty face had lost all colour now and seemed frozen in ice. His entire being radiated cold air, not much different from the white-clothed youth standing not too far behind him. What scared Jiang Shaoyu even more was the palpable sense of danger coiled around this practically emotionless Luo Lang.

"So he has finally activated his innate talent. I did not expect Luo Lang to choose this personality." Ling Lan had thought that Luo Lang would use the Savage personality which had the highest combat strength — although the Transcendent Cold personality was also a decent choice, it would not be enough to raise Luo Lang's strength up to the level of his opponent. If Luo Lang wanted to defeat the other, he would have to pay a price.

Jiang Shaoyu felt Luo Lang's force of presence grow stronger and stronger until it was almost equal to his own. The sudden increase in the other's realm confused and frightened him; he could not tell how far his opponent could raise his realm. Still, though he was hesitant to gamble, he finally could not hold back anymore and attacked.

Seeing Jiang Shaoyu's attack coming at him, Luo Lang merely peered at him calmly before raising a fist and punching it out fiercely to meet the attack.

The two boys' fists once again collided and were held frozen like a tableau for several seconds, and then the two boys were sent hurtling backwards in opposite directions. Strangely enough, after flying back several metres, they seemed to be caught by something, losing all momentum to fall directly to the ground.

When the middle-aged man saw this, the shock in his eyes was unmistakable, and his mouth twitched uncontrollably. Although he did not speak, and the people beside him could not know what he had wanted to say, the middle-aged man was well aware that he had been about to say 'Domain'. Only a Domain ability could seal Qi-Jin capable of affecting the store within a specified range.

There were not many Domain masters in the Federation — what shocked him so much was the apparent youth of this young man before his eyes. Judging from the youth's appearance, he was definitely not yet 20 years old, and the record for the youngest person in the Federation to have broken through to Domain was a 23-year-old. And now, the reality before him was telling him that this record had once again been broken. Another peerless prodigy had appeared in the Federation.

Chapter 439: Satisfied?

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

The moment Jiang Shaoyu landed, his expression changed subtly. While he had been in the air earlier, he had felt a barrier intercept his flight. Although that barrier was extremely gentle and had not harmed him, there was no doubt that a master had stepped in then. For the person responsible to have changed this area into a cage without him noticing, they were most certain to be a Domain-level master.

Jiang Shaoyu swept a cautious gaze around the equipment store. When his eyes landed on Ling Lan standing not too far from them, he directly looked past her, putting his focus on those people hiding in the corner. A stern-faced middle-aged man with glittering eyes caught his eye — at his level, he actually could not tell what level the other was at. Could it be him?

Right then, Jiang Shaoyu was no longer as confident and composed as before. He did not know which side this Domain master was on, so his heart began to beat erratically.

At this time, he suddenly saw that middle-aged man turn his gaze to the white-clothed youth standing not far from them, and his lips moved as if he was saying something to the other. Jiang Shaoyu's heart clenched in fright. He could almost confirm from this that the middle-aged man should be on the other's side. If he really hurt the beautiful youth before him by accident, he could imagine that things would not end well for him.

Having secured his position as number one in the Second Men's Military Academy, Jiang Shaoyu was not a simple-minded person. He came to a quick resolution. When he saw his opponent prepare to attack, he immediately blocked with his hand and shouted, "I admit defeat."

Unfortunately, his opponent was Luo Lang under the control of the Transcendent Cold personality. This Luo Lang was not someone who would make any half-hearted efforts. Since he had already clashed with the opponent, how could he rest without determining who was the winner once and for all?

Jiang Shaoyu saw that the other's footsteps did not even pause at his words and his heart sank. He felt that he had truly been too impulsive this time. Before obtaining a full picture of the First Men's Military Academy, he had recklessly challenged them upfront. Sure enough, lust truly clouded the mind ... for the first time, Jiang Shaoyu felt remorseful — he had truly brought a knife down upon his head due to his desires.

Resigned, Jiang Shaoyu once again traded a move with Luo Lang. This time, as he had been forced to react hastily, he was sent reeling back a few more steps than Luo Lang; he only stopped when he bumped into the boundary Ling Lan had set.

Ling Lan, who had been observing the fight coolly all this while, suddenly raised her eyebrows, and her gaze carried some deeper contemplation when she looked at Jiang Shaoyu. Just now, her Domain had been attacked, but unfortunately, the strength of the attacker was too weak in comparison to her own and had been unable to break her Domain.

Apparently, Jiang Shaoyu had only looked like he had been forced back so many steps by Luo Lang's Qi-Jin. In reality, he did not have to retreat that far. Luo Lang's activation of the Transcendent Cold personality may have made up the difference between their realms, but with regards to reserves of internal energy, Luo Lang was still weaker; thus, even though Jiang Shaoyu had lost the initiative, Luo Lang still would not have been able to suppress Jiang Shaoyu to this extent.

Jiang Shaoyu's performance was completely so he could use Luo Lang's attack as cover to try and escape from the Domain. When he had been about to bump into the barrier, long prepared, he had circulated his Qi-Jin and slammed it into the barrier. Unfortunately, the barrier was much more solid than he had expected — his Qi-Jin attack had not even caused a ripple in the barrier. His Qi-Jin had been absorbed completely in an instant and he had been blocked, still within the barrier.

By now, Jiang Shaoyu knew that even if he took the initiative to admit defeat, neither Luo Lang before him nor the Domain master helping Luo Lang from the shadows would let him go. Terrified, a savage gleam entered Jiang Shaoyu's eyes. Since the opponent was unwilling to let him go, then he would exact some price from them at all costs.

In renewed ruthlessness, Jiang Shaoyu no longer drew back. He unleashed his full force of presence, putting his all into the battle with Luo Lang.

As expected, at full power, Jiang Shaoyu immediately recaptured the flow of the fight, overpowering Luo Lang. However, as time went by, the situation seemed to be slowly tilting back towards Luo Lang. For the Transcendent Cold personality, the weaker his position, the harder he fought back — meanwhile, unable to take down his opponent after so long, Jiang Shaoyu was finally starting to show signs of impatience ...

There was a loud 'bang'! The two boys clashed once more, but this time, the two boys did not separate instantly like the previous few times. They remained with their hands touching, standing motionless.

However, those with keen eyes could see clearly that, this time, Luo Lang had not used a fist but a palm. His left palm was clasping Jiang Shaoyu's fist, and this was one of the reasons why the two of them had not sprung apart like before.

A trickle of blood suddenly flowed down from the corner of the immobile Luo Lang's lips. In order to hold the other in place, Luo Lang had received the full brunt of the opponent's Qi-Jin and so had inevitably incurred some internal damage.

Jiang Shaoyu's face changed abruptly as the injured Luo Lang did not seem to feel the pain of his body — his palm holding Jiang Shaoyu's fist captive was still strong and steady. Luo Lang's suddenly raised his long prepared right hand, and a fierce fist was sent hurtling towards Jiang Shaoyu's face. Jiang Shaoyu seemed to catch the sound of the fist cutting through the air. He knew that if he was hit by this punch, he would definitely be struck unconscious.

Jiang Shaoyu was caught by Luo Lang so he could not dodge. He could only fight back with force — his left hand clenched into a fist and he threw it out decisively.

Fist met fist and the forces behind them grappled with each other for several seconds. Having had time to prepare, Luo Lang had used his full strength in his punch, while Jiang Shaoyu had countered hastily and so could only manage to use 70% of his power in his own punch ...

The outcome had been decided the moment Luo Lang decided to receive some damage to engineer this scenario. The two fighters were suddenly thrown apart, flying backwards. There was more blood trickling down from Luo Lang's lips now, but Jiang Shaoyu could not control the roiling copper scent in his chest — he spewed a mouthful of blood in mid-air before crashing heavily onto the ground to slide several metres, only stopping when he reached the barrier.

Luo Lang's condition was not much better than Jiang Shaoyu's. After landing, he staggered back several steps and then, no longer able to stay upright, he collapsed to sit heavily on the floor.

Seeing this, Ling Lan knew the outcome had been decided, so she dismissed her Domain. Jiang Shaoyu, who had been half leaning against the barrier, suddenly felt the barrier disappear from his back. His body fell backwards beyond his control, and he quickly put his hands out to prop himself up, narrowly avoiding smashing into the ground again.

Luo Lang wiped away the traces of blood from his lips as he struggled to his feet. Then, he slowly walked over to stand before Jiang Shaoyu and said coldly, "Remember, I'm called Luo Lang. Don't even think about touching my little sister. If there's a next time, I'll kill you."

When Luo Lang said this, his eyes were all too calm and still, an extreme form of indifference within them. This gaze chilled Jiang Shaoyu's heart — he clenched his fists tightly as he stared steadily at Luo Lang without saying a word. As the number one of the Second Men's Military Academy, he had his pride. He would not permit himself to yield.

Luo Lang did not care about Jiang Shaoyu's attitude; he had merely said what he did to convey his determination. As for whether the other was willing to listen, that was not part of his considerations. And so, as soon as Luo Lang's words faded, his expression had begun to change. His eyes, which had been emotionless and as calm as water, suddenly became lively again, and the cold air surrounding his body disappeared instantly. He had become his usual self again.

Luo Lang slowly made his way back to Ling Lan's side. Ling Lan greeted him with a raised brow and asked lightly, "Satisfied?"

Luo Lang smiled, abnormally beautiful, causing many of those lingering in the equipment store to be instantly stunned at the sight. He nodded and said, "Satisfied, Boss." There was nothing more satisfying than being able to personally handle a person who had been eyeing him and his sister with lustful intent.

"That's good." Only then did Ling Lan turn her head to say to Zhao Jun, who had long beaten the other members of Jiang Shaoyu's team unconscious, "Let's go."

Zhao Jun shook out his arms, his face regretful as he said, "That really wasn't much of a fight. Next time, Luo Lang, let's trade?"

"Next time?" Luo Lang's face darkened instantly. D*mmit, did this fellow still want him to be accosted and hit on again?

Seeing Luo Lang's stormy expression, Zhao Jun knew he had said the wrong thing. He quickly added, "What I'm saying is, next time we fight against injustice, let me fight with the stronger ones first." That said, Zhao Jun once again emphasized his words to express his pure and unsullied heart, "That's fighting against injustice, you hear!"

Luo Lang huffed coolly — although he was not too happy with Zhao Jun's explanation, he still decided to let it go. Zhao Jun surreptitiously wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, rejoicing over his luck in overcoming this hurdle. This punk Luo Lang was great in every way ... but he was just too sensitive when it came to this point. As long as something touched on this hot button even just a little, he would go berserk.

Ling Lan was just about to lead Zhao Jun and Luo Lang away from the equipment store when a few more people walked through the door. In the lead was Li Lanfeng, and there were two beautiful girls trailing behind him.

Luo Chao quietly peeked out from behind Li Lanfeng and when she saw Ling Lan, her face instantly flushed bright red. This left Ling Lan rather speechless — it had already been so many years ... when would this little lass Luo Chao learn not to blush?

Luo Chao did not know about Ling Lan's dismay — as soon as she had set eyes on Ling Lan, her heart had begun pounding and her face had begun to burn. In order to let her heart feel a little better, Luo Chao did not dare to look at Ling Lan anymore. She could only turn her gaze away, and when she saw Jiang Shaoyu half-lying immobile on the ground, she asked her brother in confusion, "Big Brother, who's that? What has happened?"

Luo Lang immediately blocked Luo Chao's view and said with an expression of disgust, "Just some scum. Don't bother about him. Let's go."

Luo Chao's soft and sweet voice made the pensive Jiang Shaoyu raise his head sharply. He saw Luo Chao, with that face which was identical to Luo Lang's, and his heart was instantly overcome with chagrin. Even though those two had identical faces, their temperaments were distinctly different and were extremely easy to tell apart. Why had he been so blinded with lust and desire that he had not been able to see the difference? Why had he been so sure that the person he saw was Luo Chao and had made a move so hastily? If he had only been a little calmer, perhaps he would not have ended up in such a sorry state.

Luo Lang was about to drag his sister away with him, but he had only taken two steps when he suddenly recalled that he still had something to tell his boss. He quickly called out to Ling Lan to stop her, "Boss, wait."

Ling Lan turned her head to look calmly at Luo Lang and waited for him to explain.

Luo Lang dashed over to Firmament's side and beckoned Ling Lan over with a wave, wanting her to come over and take a look.

The moment Ling Lan walked over, she was instantly stunned. She had not expected that there would be a sword in the real world with the exact same form as Regretless which Chang Xinyuan had forged in Mecha World. All that was unclear was whether this sword only resembled Regretless in form, or whether it was similar even in terms of creation materials and composition.

Luo Lang was very swift — seeing that his boss was indeed interested in Firmament, he quickly called over a shop assistant hiding at a corner and asked him to open the protective cover so his boss could examine the item.

From the earlier battle, the shop assistant already knew that this youth who was as pretty as a flower was a Qi-Jin master. How would he dare to hesitate? He quickly ran over and opened the protective covering.

Ling Lan reached out her hand to touch Firmament, and she could the softness and flexibility of its body. Next, she also looked at the information booklet beside it and learned that this Firmament actually had characteristics extremely similar to those of Regretless in Mecha World. She was overjoyed at this discovery — it should be known that she was already used to using Regretless; if she could obtain a cold weapon like Regretless in the real world, even if she encountered an elite ace, Ling Lan would have the confidence to fight it out.

As for the steep price of Firmament, Ling Lan was not at all concerned. She might perhaps lack other things, but credits was certainly not one of those things. Who asked her to have the incredible cheat code Little Four to help her manage her finances? Over these past ten years or so, that account which Little Four had specially set up for her now contained an astronomical amount of wealth. Furthermore, her parents would transfer a humongous amount of credits to her every year. Just those credits given by her parents alone would be enough for her to purchase this Firmament.

Ling Lan paid without any fuss and then she asked the equipment store to deliver Firmament to the mecha storehouse specially set aside for the First Men's Military Academy. The staff member there in charge of maintenance and commissioning would help her to install Firmament onto her mecha; she did not have to worry any further about this.

Only after settling all of this did Ling Lan lead Luo Lang and the others away from the equipment store. After they left, Jiang Shaoyu could finally breathe a sigh of relief as he slowly climbed up from the ground. He did not show any expression of rage or hatred, merely calmly waking up those members of his who were unconscious and then leading them awkwardly away from the equipment store.

Jiang Shaoyu did not forget that that Domain master was still inside the equipment store staring coldly at him. He was afraid that if he revealed any bit of resentment, the other would be angered and destroy him completely.

After leaving the equipment store far behind him, Jiang Shaoyu finally could no longer feel any eyes on him. Only then did he truly relax. He turned his head to glance back at the equipment store and a trace of killing intent flashed across his eyes. This grudge would definitely be avenged. In that final battle royale ... if anyone was accidentally killed in the chaos, no one could be blamed.

********

The middle-aged man waited for everyone to leave before departing from the equipment store as well. Beside him, his friend saw him looking contemplatively in the direction Jiang Shaoyu had left in and he could not help but ask curiously, "You ... are interested in those people?"

"They're all Qi-Jin stage students. How can I not be interested? Who knows how many surprises they will be able to give me in the physical skills competition this time," answered the middle-aged man seriously. If that person participated, perhaps the entire Federation would be shaken.

"Haha, I had forgotten that you're the physical skills referee for this year's tournament. So, how is it? Are you now interested to take in a disciple?" asked his friend with a laugh.

"Take in a disciple? I'm afraid I'm not qualified ..." muttered the middle-aged man to himself. His voice had been too soft for his friend to hear clearly and so that friend asked, "Elder Brother Qian, what did you say?"

"Nothing. Perhaps you should watch this Mecha Grand Tournament well. You might be greatly surprised," said the middle-aged man to his friend seriously. Right then, the middle-aged man did not know that this Mecha Grand Tournament would indeed shock and surprise everyone, but just not in the way he was imagining ...

********

In the depths of the night, Ling Lan was diligently browsing through the files that Little Four had found for her on all the participants from the various military academies. After a long while, she tapped on one of the virtual images and said, "Perhaps, this will be a good thing. It's about time they learned how to stand on their own."

Meanwhile, the spaceport, which had already been closed for a day, suddenly received a military signal code requesting entrance to the spaceport. The staff immediately checked the code and found that the encrypted code contained a permit to enter the port. Without any further delay, the staff immediately opened the passageway to allow the military vessel to fly into the spaceport.

On his screen, the staff member responsible for monitoring the docking of the military vessel could clearly see a totem of a phoenix wreathed in flames emblazoned on the head of the ship. And beside the totem, two Arabic numerals were printed boldly —— 23. He instantly leapt to his feet in excitement, almost sending his chair crashing to the ground, startling the people around him in the process.

Before those people could ask him what was going on, he had already begun shouting loudly, "General Ling Xiao ... it's General Ling Xiao's vessel!"

His cry sent everyone in the control room into a tizzy; quite a few people even fell off their seats. They quickly cut all their video feeds to the military vessel, and when they saw that totem that was so familiar it could not be more familiar, as well as that number '23' which represented the number of the army division, they all could not help but scream uncontrollably.

The ruckus in the control room also startled the supervisor of the spaceport. When he learned that General Ling Xiao's vessel had already landed inside the spaceport, this supervisor was similarly so overwhelmed by emotion that he did not know what to do, almost slapping himself to convince himself that this was not a dream. Fortunately, he managed to retain his last bit of rationality and immediately led his deputy to rush towards the spaceport navigation area, intending on personally welcoming General Ling Xiao.

In order to ensure the safety of all the honoured guests of the Mecha Grand Tournament, the Department of National Security had not given planet Qiming the detailed name list of all the attending guests; instead, they had only provided them with a special safe passage passcode signal source to verify if a guest was legitimate. The staff on planet Qiming were not able to guess who the guests were from these coded signals and so they could only wait patiently until the guests arrived to be enlightened.

In fact, on this day, the planet Qiming spaceport had already received quite a number of distinguished guests. Of the twenty-three standing army divisions of the Federation, although many commanders had not come to attend, the divisions had at least sent their vice commanders or one of the subcommanders in their division. There had also been several extremely famous imperial operators who had arrived, and even the vice president of the Federation had long arrived three days ago. It could be said that these staff members were already used to the shock of it all and were not as excitable as before.

But all of this was completely useless when it came to Ling Xiao. Ling Xiao was not only the only division commander in attendance thus far, with the highest status, he was also the national idol Ling Xiao, the immortal battle god. He could be said to be the spiritual support of the entire Huaxia Federation, which was why the staff of the spaceport had completely lost control due to Ling Xiao's arrival.

The supervisor of the spaceport rushed at soonest notice to the navigation area and waited for General Ling Xiao to disembark from the military vessel. The first to come out were six senior colonels. Their eyes were shining with an intense light — even though they had reined in their force of presence, the people waiting below to welcome them could still feel an invisible pressure pressing down on them. After they came down, they spread out to cover six directions, subtly blocking off all the people waiting in the navigation area.

The supervisor knew that these six people were certain to be General Ling Xiao's personal guards — since they had already come out, this meant that General Ling Xiao would soon appear. At this thought, the supervisor's heart began to pound.

However, the next person to come out from the ship slightly disappointed the supervisor because it was a major general. He stood at the door of the ship, looked down to survey the situation for a bit and found everything normal, before turning back into the ship.

Soon, another figure appeared at the ship's door. The supervisor fixed his gaze on the person and saw that it was General Ling Xiao this time. General Ling Xiao was dressed in a sharp-pressed general's uniform, and there was a warm and gentle smile on his handsome face, welcoming to others like a spring breeze. The supervisor's pounding heart instantly calmed down considerably at the sight of this smile.

Everyone was waiting for General Ling Xiao to come down from the ship when General Ling Xiao suddenly turned around and reached out his left hand at the same time to hold onto another person's right hand. A slender and graceful figure slowly appeared at the door — she had a noble and elegant air, her beautiful face adorned with a soft smile as she stared with deep affection at the man standing beside her. The two of them looked extremely young, as if time had not left much of a mark on them. The handsome man and the lovely woman were like a jade couple.

Everyone knew that this had to be General Ling Xiao's wife, Lan Luofeng. The true love between General Ling Xiao and his wife was something every girl in the Federation dreamed of.T/C: Lol, such fan boys.i.e. a perfect couple.