1311-1320

1311 An Uproar

"Now, each representative can ask questions freely," said the host of the conference.

The representatives all thought it over and asked Zhou Lirong and Luo Zhiqun some hypothetical questions such as the problems in the development of the Lingtian Independent Army. They were asked questions about how they would resolve these problems.

Finally, when the conference was about to end, one of the representatives finally asked Qi Long a question.

"Major General Qi has mentioned that you would be developing the Lingtian Independent Army into a mecha army. However, this is considered to be something that has no precedents. So, Major General Qi, how can you guarantee its success?"

Qi Long thought for a moment and said, "It's just as you have said. This is unprecedented with no previous documentation. I can't guarantee what the final outcome will be so I cannot make any promises, but I will try my best to complete it. The world didn't have roads in the beginning, and only had roads after humans created them. However, if there wasn't someone who took that risk to build them, then roads would never be so common. This plan may be very risky, difficult and could have pitfalls without a way back. Among the candidates, I have the least amount of merits and the least amount of experience. The advantage I have is that I'm young and I am not afraid to fail. No matter what the outcome will be, I want to walk forward on this path. I hope everyone can give me this chance and let a mecha army exist in the Federation's military."

Qi Long's expression was serious, but spoke those words very sincerely. However, his honest face also leaked out terrifying killing intent. The honest-looking and hardworking expression he had was embedded into everyone's mind. Just by looking at his face, everyone was willing to trust him and give him a chance to achieve his dream.

After Qi Yaoyang saw all that, he turned his head down as he tried to get rid of the surprise and joy he had in his eyes. Although Qi Long's choice of words were not the most optimal for a speech, those words were real and from the heart. When combined with his expression, it was quite easy for him to affect the people among the representatives who were neutral.

After that question, the question and answer round had finished. The host of the conference announced that after 10 minutes, they would enter the final voting stage to finally determine the final candidate for the commander of Lingtian Independent Army.

Qi Long slowly walked back to his seat. Yang Mingzhi, Liu Furong and his other comrades all stood up to welcome him back. They didn't say anything and only bumped their fists against his fist to show that they supported Qi Long all the way.

After sitting down, Qi Long saw Lan Luofeng, who was sitting in front him, slowly nodded at him. Her expression was warm and her eyes had a hint of encouragement. Just that look almost made someone as strong-willed as Qi Long burst into tears. Boss's mother also acknowledged him. This acknowledgment was much more treasured by Qi Long than those from others.

After 10 minutes, the host announced that the final voting would begin.

No matter if it was Zhou Lirong, Luo Zhiqun or Qi Long, they all had serious expressions on their faces.

Waiting for the result was the most anxious thing that could happen to someone. Qi Long took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he turned extremely calm. Just as Boss had said, if he did everything he could do well, then he shouldn't be afraid of anything.

The change in presence from Qi Long made the many people, who were focused their attention on him, smirk slightly. No matter what the final outcome was going to be, Qi Long had made an impression on these people so they would remember him in the future. This was definitely good for Qi Long's future development.

In order for a person to get what they wanted in the military world, their own capabilities were the most important. However, it was similarly important if that person could make an impression on these people. In the most important moment, someone with a good impression would instantly let the scales tilt towards them when they were at a disadvantage.

Soon, the final result was counted and then sent to the host of the conference.

The host saw the final name and raised his eyebrows in surprise. He looked at Qi Long and then smiled as he announced, "The position of commander for the Lingtian Independent Army will be given to Major General Qi Long."

After this result was publicized, everyone from Lingtian cheered. Didn't they work so hard for so long just for this result?

Qi Long's eyes teared up as he clenched his fists. "Boss, are you seeing this? I did it. I will hold onto Lingtian and wait for you to come back one day."

In Qi Long's mind, Boss definitely would one day be a marshal. He would then be the sharpest blade in Ling Lan��s hands and go wherever she pointed him towards.

This result was somewhat surprising but not really. The people who voted all had a slight moment of surprise on their faces and then understood the reason.

Those who entered the military headquarters were although part of many factions, they were still fully loyal to the Federation. Integrated divisions were commonplace. This new type of mecha armies Qi Long mentioned did indeed make them curious. They also wanted the Federation's military to be stronger. As long as there was even a slim chance, they would want to try it. That was why when Qi Long mentioned a possibility of becoming stronger, they had already been won over by him. In addition to the full support of the third faction, the neutral factions and those, who were somewhat neutral from the other two factions, were all willing to give Qi Long this opportunity. That was why Qi Long was the top voted candidate.

However, this was only just an appetizer of sorts. Everyone knew that the real brutal competition was about to begin. A new independent army, even if it had a future, was still only in the future. On the other hand, the voting for the commander of the 23rd Division was the one that had its benefits shown in the present.

When the host of the conference began speaking about selecting the next general of the 23rd Division, the First Marshal, who had his eyes closed all this time, slowly opened his eyes.

After he opened his eyes, the Second and Third Marshals instantly had serious looks on their faces. The atmosphere of the conference room instantly became anxious.

This was the First Marshal. Just any action from him could affect the mood of everyone in the vicinity.

"There are also three candidates for the position of general in the 23rd Division."

"The first candidate is the 2nd Division's deputy general, Lieutenant General Qiao Zhenyu. The second candidate is the 3rd Division's deputy general, Lieutenant General Yang Tie. The third candidate is Lingtian Independent Army's commander, Lieutenant General Ling Lan."

"Hoo~" After hearing Ling Lan's name as the third candidate, the entire conference room was in uproar.

Ling Lan's disappearance was the reason the military headquarters had to choose a new commander for the Lingtian Independent Army. If someone who disappeared could compete for the position of a general, then it would have been better to let him continue to have his original position. At least that way, his subordinates would still be loyal and trust him.

"With Lieutenant General Ling Lan having not returned, if he is to be chosen, Major General Lan Luofeng, General Ling Xiao's widow, will be acting on behalf of the general," the host calmly added. When he received the list of candidates, he was just as surprised as those seated below. After seeing the statement afterwards, he felt it made sense.

As expected, after adding that statement, the uproar within the audience instantly lowered. However, at the same time, there were many discussions that began.

1312 Spoken With Confidence

"Why did the military headquarters let someone like that be a candidate? This doesn't make sense." Doubts of the Ling Lan being a candidate of the position started sounding out loud.

"I heard that it was because everyone from the 23rd Division recommended him."

"If that's the case then that explains it."

With the 23rd Division being built from the ground up by Ling Xiao, the respect everyone in the division had for Ling Xiao was unwavering. They definitely wouldn't accept any general who didn't have any connections with the 23rd Division to take over the position. Even if that general was of the same caliber as Ling Xiao, they still wouldn't be able to accept that.

Of course, if they were to choose a general from within the 23rd Division, someone like He Xuyang would be their ideal candidate. However, He Xuyang didn't have enough merits and didn't have any support from the higher-ups in the military so he couldn't get onto the list of candidates. Moreover, the 23rd Division didn't have a deputy general so no one was available from the 23rd Division internally to take up the position of general.

However, the truth laid in front of the 23rd Division was brutal. They must accept someone else to be their general. But, all of the members of the division would still be frustrated if a general they didn't acknowledge joined.

Instead of those outsiders, it would be better for General Ling Xiao's family members to take this position. In terms of their feelings, they would be able to accept it.

In reality, although the 23rd Division was established only for eight to nine years, the entire division still had reached a perfect maturation state because of Ling Xiao's hard work. Even if there wasn't a general giving them orders, the 23rd Division still could continue to function well. Thus, the 23rd Division didn't need their next general to be amazing. They just wanted this new general to be able to take over the fighting spirit of the 23rd Division that General Ling Xiao had left them with and not mold the division into something new. They didn't want anyone to make changes and get rid of the mark General Ling Xiao had left in the hearts of those in the 23rd Division.

Thus, after careful consideration, He Xuyang and the other higher-ups of the 23rd Division spoke with Lan Luofeng to push Ling Lan into the position of general. That way they would be able to protect the 23rd Division General Ling Xiao had put all of his effort in.

However, there was still a problem presented before them. That was the disappearance of Lieutenant General Ling. Although the military didn't have any regulations that restricted disappeared individuals from competing for an important military position, it still clearly stated that if an individual that had been missing in action for more than three months, their position would be revoked and new arrangements would take place. Even if Ling Lan was chosen for the position, his position would probably be revoked if he didn't come back to the Federation, and they would return to this problem again. If that happened, all the effort they put in doing all of this would all be for naught.

However, nothing was impossible for those with a will. He Xuyang and the others from the 23rd Division studied through all of the military regulations, rules, bills and methods. In the end, they found a possible method on a document from the military headquarters.

If an army unit was met with a special circumstance (such as a disappeared individual who couldn't return to the Federation for certain reasons and he or she also couldn't contact the military headquarters) and if the position had some special attribute to it which could not have anyone substitute for the position. If that was the case, they would be able to find a representative to work as a deputy of the army unit. After the said person returned to the Federation, the power of command would be returned to that person. The representative would be removed for their position automatically afterwards.

The best candidate for Ling Lan's representative was Lan Luofeng.

However, with Lan Luofeng's military rank, it was clearly not enough for her to be a representative. That was why Lan Luofeng needed to go find the First Marshal and have him support her. The First Marshal had used different methods and the connections he had to successfully rank up Lan Luofeng's military rank before the other marshals and the neutral factions had discovered this fact. He managed to raise her rank up to the lowest requirement of military rank for being a representative.

Everything was ready and only a match was needed to light the fuse.

Finally, on this day, the plan was unfolding.

After realizing why the First Marshal did what he did in the past few weeks, both the Second and Third Marshals called the First Marshal 'an old bastard' in their minds. That sly old fox got the better of them once again without them knowing. They were busy using that time to comfort the emotions and frustrations of the citizens so they just approved of it willingly when asked to rank up Lan Luofeng. This was why Lan Luofeng advanced in military ranks without any issues that fast.

Now that they thought about it, they really regretted it. Ling Lan and Lan Luofeng combination seemed to be ridiculous by itself, but with General Ling Xiao's death having happened recently, this combination was deadly. Many representatives would lean towards Ling Xiao's successor over the other candidates when there wasn't much difference between the three of them due to their respect towards General Ling Xiao and the feeling of sadness after his death.

It was no wonder that when competing for the Lingtian Independent Army, the First Marshal's faction didn't try their best to win it. Their faction's main goal was still the 23rd Division.

The feeling of joy the Third Marshal originally had, after successfully taking Lingtian Independent Army under his wing, was instantly gone. Not to mention the Second Marshal, who was already defeated in the first round.

Moreover, the host of this conference was also part of the First Marshal's faction. Otherwise, when he introduced Lan Luofeng, why did he mention that Lan Luofeng was Ling Xiao's widow? It was a clear reminder to the representatives sitting in the audience to respect General Ling Xiao's wife, Lan Luofeng. In this way, the scales within the minds of these representatives would tilt more towards Ling Lan and Lan Luofeng.

After the list of names were announced, the people from Lingtian Independent Army couldn't help but clench their fists. They held back their excitement and made small fist pumps to celebrate.

Those from the Lingtian Independent Army didn't have much political power. They couldn't even get close to the people who were the top brass of the military. That was why they didn't know the 23rd Division would put Boss up as a candidate. They were still thinking about how they could protect the Lingtian Independent Army. The issue with the 23rd Division was something that they could only watch unfold because they could not even get close to that position. They had discussed among themselves about who would be successor of the 23rd Division. After all, it was a division established by Boss's father, Ling Xiao. They hoped that the person who took over would continue to be generous to them and continue to work well with them. Everyone from Lingtian understood that the reason why Lingtian had developed so quickly was because of General Ling Xiao's support. Many of the weapons and equipment that were impossible to acquire by armies like Lingtian Independent Army, were taken from the 23rd Division by Boss.

If they were to lose the 23rd Division's full support, they predict that the Lingtian Independent Army would be in a difficult situation in the following years. Although Qi Long took up the position of commander and could go to the 13th Division for help, Qi Yaoyang was still only just someone who took over recently. There was still the deputy general watching over his shoulders. It was impossible for them to receive limitless aid like they did with the 23rd Division. Qi Yaoyang especially wouldn't dare to give them those restricted weapons and equipment. There were just too many people watching him and waiting for him to make a mistake.

Ling Xiao on the other hand was different. He was a god-class operator. One of the ten great generals of the Federation. A general of a division who didn't have a deputy watching over him. Without a doubt, all of his subordinates were his confidants. He could do whatever he wanted to do. Even if the military headquarters had problems with his decisions, they wouldn't dare to go find General Ling Xiao and talk to him about it… That was the power Ling Xiao had. However, it was also because of this that the higher-ups within the military headquarters were afraid of Ling Xiao. They just didn't have any method of deterring or stopping him.

1313 Bargaining Chip.

Once the chattering subsided, the host of the conference opened his mouth. "Let's invite the three candidates to explain their future plans for the 23rd division."

Lan Luofeng took a deep breath and stood up. She walked up the stage slowly.

This was the first time Lan Luofeng went up on stage as the main speaker. She wasn't following Ling Xiao up as she did in the past. However, her footsteps were firm just like in the past. She didn't seem nervous at all.

He Xuyang finally felt at ease when he saw Lan Luofeng's confident posture.

No one noticed that when Lan Luofeng got up, Ren Feiyu (Ling Xiao), who was wearing an indifferent expression all these while, suddenly straightened his body and glanced quickly at Lan Luofeng.

Lan Luofeng was Ling Xiao's widow so Qiao Zhenyu and Yang Tie naturally took a step back to let Lan Luofeng speak first.

Lan Luofeng politely rejected their offer but the other two people remained firm. Thus, she nodded and went up to the center of the stage.

Lan Luofeng stood on the stage and looked at the huge number of people below her. She felt that her heart was going to jump out of her throat. She had already mentally prepared herself beforehand but when she actually faced the situation, she was still nervous.

She wouldn't be worried if it was only for herself since she didn't mind losing. However, she was fighting for Ling Lan. Hence, she was afraid that her mistake would affect Ling Lan's succession of the 23rd division.

For a moment, Lan Luofeng didn't know what to say. She remained silent.

Ling Xiao clasped his hands together tightly. This was the first time Lan Luofeng left his protection and faced the public to speak. He knew that Lan Luofeng had a strong personality. At first, he started liking Lan Luofeng because of her voice. However, as he got to know her better and understood her personality more, he fell in love with her. From then onwards, he couldn't leave her anymore.

That year, he left his wife a little more than a month after she got pregnant. Although he had to leave because it was a command from the military, he knew Lan Luofeng would be able to pull through it with her personality. She would find a suitable way to survive without him.

Because of trust, he left her and went to the battlefield. Because of trust, he kept his vows to her for 16 years. Because of trust, he fought desperately to find a way home. Because of trust, he chose to hide his identity and protect her secretly.

Ling Xiao released his right hand slowly and his gaze turned indifferent again. He believed his Luofeng. She would definitely pass this test with flying colors.

Lan Luofeng started speaking. Her voice was clear and stable. She wasn't nervous even though there were so many people present.

"First, I would like to thank all the members of the 23rd division for their love for Ling Xiao. They were willing to give all their trust to his judgement that Ling Lan would be the best candidate for the position as the general of the 23rd division. They applied internally to allow Ling Lan to have this precious opportunity to become a candidate for the general's position."

"The war with Twilight caused me to lose Ling Xiao. At the same time, I also lost contact with Ling Lan. Hence, when he was pushed into this position, I was initially opposed to the idea. The 23rd division was built by Ling Xiao and he had gained the respect and trust of all his soldiers. It couldn't be denied that many people labeled the 23rd division as Ling Xiao's division. However, I would like to say that the 23rd division is the same as the other 22 divisions of the Federation. There's nothing special or unique about it. It doesn't belong to Ling Xiao. I, Lan Luofeng, don't mind who becomes the general of the 23rd division. I'm sure that if Ling Xiao was still alive, he would feel the same way."

Lan Luofeng's speech was magnanimous. The representatives below started applauding loudly. At first, they just respected her because she was Ling Xiao's wife. Now, they realised that she was a reasonable and selfless person. Their impression of her got better and they admired her even more.

The First Marshal frowned slightly when he heard Lan Luofeng's speech. Lan Luofeng's words had put him at a disadvantage. If the representatives below felt that Ling Lan and Lan Luofeng didn't want the position of 23rd division's general, the faction of the Second Marshal and the Third Marshal would benefit. After hearing Lan Luofeng's speech, the Second Marshal and Third Marshal's expressions got gentler.

The representatives from the 23rd division all had stunned expressions. This speech was entirely different from the materials they had prepared. They didn't know what to do.

He Xuyang tapped his thighs silently. He decided to watch quietly. He believed that the lady his general loved wasn't a stupid person. Major General Lan must have something up her sleeve.

Only Ling Xiao closed his eyes after listening to Lan Luofeng. He looked as though he didn't care about this matter anymore but if you look closely, you would realise that there was a tiny smile on his face. He completely understood what Lan Luofeng was doing.

"However, the representatives from the 23rd division convinced me. They respected Ling Xiao. If the 23rd division was taken over by someone else right after Ling Xiao passed away, they won't be able to accept it. They actually feel strongly against it too. They recommended Ling Lan because he's Ling Xiao's son. They hoped that he could inherit Ling Xiao's unfulfilled wish and lead the 23rd division to glory. Since Ling Lan is missing, they requested me to be his representative to solve the problem." Lan Luofeng's eyes were filled with tears as she continued speaking. Her voice was full of emotions. "I can't reject their earnest request. I have my own selfish thoughts too. I want to see the 23rd division, which Ling Xiao regarded as his pride, becoming the 23rd division wished it will become."

He Xuyang clenched his fist tightly. Without a doubt, Lan Luofeng was starting to give more bargaining chips to Ling Lan. She pointed out the attitude of the soldiers in the 23rd division so that the representatives below knew how much they would reject the arrival of a new general. If they didn't do it right, the new general might be just a mindless puppet. The only way the military could change the general to whoever they wanted was to sweep away all the main officers of the 23rd division.

But, this would shake the hearts of all the soldiers in the 23rd division. If the anger of the soldiers was ignited, it might affect the other divisions too. Thus, unless there was no other way, the military wouldn't touch the 23rd division so soon after Ling Xiao's death.

But, Lan Luofeng's actions pushed the higher authorities of the 23rd division out. These people would be blacklisted by the military and their path in the future would be heavily affected. They might have a hard time rising in rank.

Many representatives from the 23rd division had an unhappy look on their faces.

'Since they wanted to use Young Master Lan and mistress, they must be prepared to pay the price.' He Xuyang smiled lightly. Not everyone wanted to protect the 23rd division sincerely like him. Some people respected Ling Xiao but as the saying goes, the tea cools down when the person is gone. Without a powerful person suppressing the majority of the people, some of them would turn greedy. However, everyone had the same thing. In that case, he would make use of them too. Once everything had settled down, he would slowly count the debt.

1314 Brilliant!

"All of you know about Ling Lan's track record. I can proudly say that Ling Lan is the number one soldier in his generation. Even if I compared him to the previous generation of soldiers, besides Ling Xiao, no one can be compared to him." Lan Luofeng turned aggressive when she talked about her precious daughter. She wasn't polite about it at all.

In the back, Ling Xiao's smile got deeper. If it was about their daughter, Lan Luofeng's aggressive personality would come out. He had suffered from it many times. Even he would succumb to her, much less all these people.

Qiao Zhenyu and Yang Tie's expressions froze when they heard the shameless praise Lan Luofeng had for Ling Lan. They didn't seem too happy about it.

The representatives below quickly got reminded by Lan Luofeng and they went to check Ling Lan's track records. They were instantly dumbfounded by it the moment they read it. Within a short span of around four years, the number of merits she had gained were equal to the number of merits an above average soldier would gain in his entire career. This astonishing track record made them exclaim, "Like father, like son."

Compared to Ling Lan's extraordinary track record, Qiao Zhenyu and Yang Tie's records fell short in comparison. After all, all their merits were gained through their time spent in the military. Their value wasn't like Ling Lan's merits, which she got using her real ability and through battles.

"Since Ling Lan was able to build an independent army from scratch, I believe that he will be able to lead a division properly. Although Ling Lan is young, he has his advantage too. With his youth, he would have enough time to learn and develop the 23rd division into the division his father envisioned, and I trust that he won't disappoint his father. As for the direction of the 23rd Division, I'm sure Ling Lan knows and understands it better than anyone here." Lan Luofeng gave a knowing smile. She didn't explain herself explicitly but everyone knew what she was saying.

General Ling Xiao had definitely discussed with Ling Lan on the future of the 23rd division. A scene slowly appeared in everyone's mind. A father and son sitting in a study room chatting about their resolve in the military. The former was talking about the 23rd division while the latter talked about the Lingtian Independent Army. This should have been a legendary scene but it only invoked pity now. A lot of the audience started favouring Ling Lan. In their minds, it made more sense to have the son continue his father's dream.

Lan Luofeng's gaze turned sharp. "Based on what I've mentioned above, Ling Lan is the most suitable person to take over the 23rd division. I can't think of a reason to reject his candidacy. For myself, I can't stop the most suitable candidate from getting the position just because I want to avoid arousing suspicion. I can't be selfish. Thus, I agreed to be Ling Lan's representative."

Both times, Lan Luofeng spoke about being selfish. The way she said it was different but the content was the same. The image of a righteous wife of a soldier who cared about the nation, its people, and her family was imprinted deeply in everyone's mind. While they admired her, they felt sad for her too.

They were completely convinced to let this virtuous lady be the representative of Ling Lan. Lan Luofeng's speech gave Ling Lan more bargaining chips and at the same time, she managed to portray herself perfectly. She indirectly gave her daughter more support.

He Xuyang forcefully calmed his turbulent emotions. Major General Lan's speech seemed normal but it was actually brilliant to anyone who understood her underlying intentions. She laid out the advantages of having Ling Lan as the general of the 23rd division from many different perspectives. The wife of General Ling Xiao and the mother of Young Master Lan was truly not an ordinary woman. They had underestimated Major General Lan. Everyone underestimated Major General Lan. They deserved to be fooled by Major General Lan.

"Thank you for your willingness to listen to me." Lan Luofeng saluted. She looked very handsome in her current image.

The representatives from the Lingtian Independent Army started applauding enthusiastically. Their enthusiasm also affected the other representatives who respected Lan Luofeng. The First Marshal clapped happily too. Only the expressions of the Second Marshal and the Third Marshal were sour. However, they could only unwillingly clap.

Ling Xiao only started smiling and clapping after he saw his wife's beautiful performance.

Since the three great marshals and the commander of the Flying Dragon Special Forces acknowledged her, those with impure intentions didn't dare speak up. Soon, a loud roar of applause echoed through the venue. It lasted for a very long time.

Seeing Lan Luofeng already earning a standing ovation at the beginning of the conference, Qiao Zhenyu and Yang Tie turned gloomy. They felt that they were in a dire situation. Now, they weren't as confident as before.

After Lan Luofeng returned back to her seat, the two of them continued with the conference and explained their plan for the 23rd division's future. However, their speech didn't leave any impression in the hearts of the representatives. They were only talking about their vision, not General Ling Xiao's.

Actually, Ling Xiao was always a bugged character. A lot of people in the headquarters were jealous and envious of him. However, if they were involved in a mess with Ling Xiao, they would follow his lead involuntarily. This was because they believed Ling Xiao and trusted that all the decisions he made were right. Hence, they would rather follow Ling Xiao's vision of the 23rd division's future and not anyone else's.

This kind of mindset was contradictory. They wanted to suppress Ling Xiao but yet, they believed and respected him. We could only say that Qiao Zhenyu and Yang Tie didn't understand the representatives' true thoughts. They thought that they could reorganise the 23rd division based on their own plans, but reality thought them wrong. Thus, more and more people began to lean towards Ling Lan.

After that, it was time for the representatives to ask questions. They threw some standard questions at Qiao Zhenyu and Yang Tie before focusing all their attention on Lan Luofeng.

The range of the questions was very broad. Some even asked Lan Luofeng what she liked to do in her free time. Although the questions they asked were strange, they had a valid reason for doing so. Lan Luofeng didn't have any management experience in the military so they could only use her hobbies and habits to analyse and understand Lan Luofeng better before they could make a decision to see if she was a suitable representative for Ling Lan.

Lan Luofeng didn't mind their weird questions. She smiled and replied to all the questions at face value. Her natural and graceful attitude gained even more approval.

Ling Xiao's face turned dark. 'Damn it, what do they think they are doing? Are they trying to flirt with my wife right in front of me? Are they looking for death?'

Soon, the final voting would be held. The Second Marshal and Third Marshal noticed that the majority of the votes weren't on their side so they secretly signaled to their confidants.

Before the host could announce that it was time to start the voting process, the general of the 6th division suddenly stood up from his seat and said, "I don't have any opinion against Ling Lan being the general of the 23rd division. However, I've one question that I must ask."

Ling Xiao frowned slightly. He knew that it wouldn't be that easy of a road.

The host looked at the First Marshal instinctively. The First Marshal lowered his head when he heard the general of the 6th division talking. He didn't say anything.

The host understood what he meant by that so he looked directly at him and said, "General Yuan, please come up and speak."

1315 Fatal Weakness.

General Yuan stepped onto the stage and spoke calmly to representatives seated before him, "The 23rd division is an official division of the Federation. It's not a small mecha clan with only a few thousand soldiers. It's not an independent army either. It's a standard division with the proper number of members. One single order from the general could affect the lives of millions of soldiers. In times of war, the general has to be responsible for the safety of all his soldiers. In the end, Major General Lan still doesn't have any experience in management or commanding. During peaceful times, the 23rd division could still function as a division with such a general. But, with the Federation's current troubled state, Major General Lan is not suitable to be the representative of the general. Caesar and its alliance nations are still eyeing us like vultures, and no one knows when the next war will occur. As an official division, once a war starts, it'll need to go to the battlefield. May I ask how Major General Lan is going to command the 23rd division during a war?"

"We shouldn't let our emotions take over our thoughts and ignore the lives of millions of soldiers in the 23rd division which are at stake here." General Yuan glanced at the representatives below sharply.

The people who were moved by Lan Luofeng's speech felt as though cold water was poured over their heads. They started wondering if they were being too emotional.

Lan Luofeng pursed her lips when she heard his dismissive attitude about her. But, what he said was truly her fatal weakness. Moreover, there was no way she could refute what he said as what he said was all true. If she wasn't Ling Xiao's widow, she might not even have the right to enter this conference room, much less prove her ability.

The host glanced at the First Marshal again. The First Marshal seemed to sense the gaze and opened his eyes. Then he turned his gaze to look at someone.

It was Zhang Ruolin, one of the ten great generals of the Federation. He was the commander-in-chief of the military zone of the North-east planetary sector.

Most of the time, a general would hold the position of commander-in-chief of a planetary sector. This was a different commanding system from being a general of a division. In theory, the commander-in-chief and the general of a division would garner equal power in the military. However, with commander-in-chiefs being mostly great generals, generals of division would usually have to bow their heads down before a great general as they were still of a higher rank than normal generals

This arrangement was to prevent conflict over the position of the commander-in-chief when a division worked together with a planetary sector during a war.

About this arrangement, Ling Xiao was an oddball. He was the general of a division while being one of the great generals. However, the military didn't find a problem with it because this had to do with the location of the 23rd division. It was stationed at the South Pole planetary sector. The South Pole planetary sector was a new planetary sector that the Federation was developing so there wasn't any official commander-in-chief placed there yet. There was no official appointment but the entire military recognised Ling Xiao as the commander-in-chief of the South Pole planetary sector.

Besides the support from the generals and regiment commanders from his faction, the First Marshal had the support of these powerful people too. That was how he could sit in his position stably. Zhang Ruolin was one of those people supporting him.

"General Yuan makes sense. We can't lose our rationality because of our emotions. However, we mustn't be too logical until we ignore our emotions." Zhang Ruolin suddenly broke the silence. "You must understand that our soldiers have emotions too. They're not war machines. It's understandable that they want to find mental support. It's alright to agree with them sometimes."

The representatives who were still wondering whether they were too emotional immediately felt understood when they heard General Zhang's words. They looked at him gratefully. If they could, they wanted to give in to their emotions to comfort General Ling Xiao's spirit. They hoped that he could see his 23rd division shining brightly under the lead of his son.

"General Zhang, what do you mean?" General Yuan narrowed his gaze. He didn't expect this great general to step forward and suppress the presence he made just now.

"Don't reprimand them. We should solve this problem while caring about their emotions." Zhang Ruolin looked at General Yuan with a sharp gaze. The invisible pressure caused General Yuan to frown. He couldn't think of a reply.

"How should we solve it? Please explain clearly." The general of the 11th division suddenly interrupted them. He belonged to the Third Marshal's faction. The situation was already against them so the Second Marshal and the Third Marshal's factions decided to work together.

"That will require the help of everyone here. There are so many people here. I'm sure that we can solve this insignificant problem." Zhang Ruolin immediately pushed the question back to everyone. As a sly old fox with many years of experience in the military, he wasn't stupid to become the center of attention now.

The people from the second and third faction felt frustrated when they saw Zhang Ruolin backing out naturally. They couldn't tackle the first faction because there were too many sly old foxes there. They wouldn't let anyone get hold of their tails no matter what they say or do.

After Zhang Ruolin spoke, the representatives below started discussing. They started thinking about how they would solve this problem if Ling Lan became the general of the 23rd division.

"Actually, Lieutenant General He Xuyang from the 23rd division is not too bad of an option. When General Ling Xiao wasn't present, he led the 23rd division and won the fight against two armies from the Twilight. He can be the commanding officer during a war." Someone suggested a workable option.

Many people agreed with him. There were many outstanding commanders in the 23rd division. They were just overshadowed by Ling Xiao in the past so no one noticed them.

"How can you make sure of that without the general suppressing them. Are you sure the people below won't become greedy?" Some coldly doubted, "Moreover, we don't know if the soldiers are willing to listen to He Xuyang." When General Ling Xiao was alive, the people below had nothing against He Xuyang commanding them. They cooperated with him fully. But, now, General Ling Xiao wasn't present to suppress these people. He Xuyang was just a chief of staff with the rank of lieutenant general. There were many soldiers with the same rank as him. Would these people be willing to listen to someone with the same rank?

Everyone turned dead silent. If He Xuyang wasn't an option, no one else would be able to take the position. No one was able to think of any solutions.

The people from the second and third faction watched them from the sidelines quietly. They weren't so kind as to solve this problem for Lan Luofeng and Ling Lan. As long as Lan Luofeng couldn't solve her fatal weakness, Ling Lan wouldn't be able to sit in that position. That meant that their candidates would be able to get the position.

At this moment, a cough broke the silence.

Everyone looked up. The commander of the Flying Dragon Special Forces, Ren Feiyu, was covering his lips and coughing.

He gave a helpless smile when he saw everyone looking at him. He seemed to be thinking that he coughed at a bad time.

1316 Suggestion!

"General Ren, you seem to have poor health recently." The First Marshal opened his eyes and asked in concern.

"I think so," Ling Xiao smiled and replied. At the same time, he turned to everyone and said apologetically, "I'm sorry that I interrupted your thoughts. To make up for it, let me provide a suggestion."

Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard this.

Ling Xiao continued, "Actually, I feel that there's no need to be so complicated. Aren't there three candidates for the position of the general of the 23rd division? I remember that the 23rd division still doesn't have a deputy."

Ling Xiao looked at the host with uncertainty as if he was asking if his statement was true.

The host quickly nodded. "Yes, General Ren is right. From the founding of the 23rd division, there hasn't been a deputy."

Lieutenant General clapped his hands and smiled instantly. "That's great. The person with the highest number of votes will be the general while the other two will be the deputies. That way, even when Lieutenant General Ling becomes the general, the two deputy generals can command the division during war times."

The First Marshal immediately smiled. "General Ren's suggestion is not bad. It's worth considering.���

The Second Marshal and the Third Marshal were enlightened. No matter what the result was, they managed to successfully put their men into the 23rd division. Moreover, the position wasn't finalized yet. Their men might become the general of the 23rd division.

"This is good too. Whatever the result is, everyone will be satisfied emotionally, even if Ling Lan is just a deputy general." The Second Marshal smiled. He chose his words carefully. He hinted to everyone that Ling Lan didn't need to be the general. The position of deputy general was enough for him.

"I agree." The Third Marshal smiled and nodded. This was a good solution for everyone. At the same time, he felt that his man might have a chance to become the general too.

Since the three great marshals had already agreed with General Ren, the people from their factions wouldn't disagree. The neutral parties didn't want to see one faction taking control of the 23rd division so they happily accepted this decision. Thus, very soon, this suggestion was accepted.

Lan Luofeng heaved a sigh of relief when she heard this solution. No matter what, Ling Lan would at least be a deputy general of the 23rd division. She believed that as long as Ling Lan had a position, she would be able to take complete control of the 23rd division using her own methods. She was extremely confident in her daughter.

Lan Luofeng looked at Ren Feiyu gratefully. His suggestion saved Ling Lan. Lan Luofeng knew that if her fatal weakness wasn't solved, it was almost impossible for Ling Lan to get the general's position. Yet, this suggestion pushed the focus away from her weakness while making sure that Ling Lan had a position in the 23rd division. This suggestion was beneficial to Ling Lan from all directions.

Ren Feiyu lowered his hands and placed them on the handrails after he finished speaking. He didn't care about what happened in the conference room anymore. It seemed like he only gave the suggestion because he disturbed everyone a minute ago.

Lan Luofeng retracted her gaze. She silently remembered this favour. The other person might have done it unconsciously but she wouldn't forget his help.

No one knew that Ren Feiyu was holding the handrail tightly with his other hand when Lan Luofeng looked over. Then he slowly released it. After that, he remained indifferent.

The results came quickly. Everyone had no worries anymore so they decided to go with their emotions. Thus, unsurprisingly, Ling Lan won the voting with a high amount of votes.

The result caused Lan Luofeng to cry in joy. The representatives from the 23rd division started clapping too. They had two more deputy generals now but at least their general was Ling Lan. They just needed to last until Ling Lan came back. Ling Xiao's confidants, which was led by He Xuyang, believed that Ling Lan would definitely be able to come back and control the 23rd division.

Ling Xiao smiled secretly after hearing the results. He won this match.

The Second Marshal and the Third Marshal weren't really satisfied with the results. However, on the positive side, Ling Lan was still missing. Their men were only deputy generals but in actual fact, their power was the same as the general. In order to control the 23rd division, there would definitely be a fight between the two deputy generals. No one knew who would be the winner.

The Second Marshal and the Third Marshal exchanged glances with each other. The atmosphere between them was tense. The fight between their factions was imminent.

Both of them completely forgot about Lan Luofeng.

The conference ended. On the third day after the conference ended, a celebration was held.

It was a carnival for the soldiers. The entire Planet General was locked up. Only soldiers and their family members could enter.

As the special guest for this celebration, Li Yinfei had reached Planet General a long time ago. She was rehearsing diligently for her performance.

Her performance was able to start. Li Yinfei changed into her performing attire and forcefully pushed down her excitement.

"Yinfei, if you perform well this time, you'll be able to enter the military. You'll get a rank and become an officer." The manager looked at the beautiful stage from the backstage with bright eyes. He couldn't hide his ambition.

The performance department of the military had told them that if Li Yinfei performed well in this event while gaining the approval of the powerful people in the military, she would be given a military rank. He probed the person from the performance department continuously before he finally managed to open his mouth. He was told that the lowest rank they would give Li Yinfei was a major rank. If she performed well, the rank would be even higher.

He was extremely excited when he heard this. It should be known that he was tied to Li Yinfei. As long as Li Yinfei entered the military, he would enter too. He would be able to get the military rank he had always dreamt of.

Many people felt that Li Yinfei had a glamorous life but that was only in the eyes of the normal citizens. If someone powerful really wanted to do something to her, Li Yinfei wouldn't be able to protect herself. The reason why she was able to stay safe in the entertainment industry for so long was because the Li family was protecting her.

However, there were still problematic matters that the Li family didn't care about so Li Yinfei had to deal with those small matters personally. She suffered many times so she really wanted to have the power to protect herself. Thus, this idea of entering the military came into her mind.

Once she gained the recognition of the military and obtained a military rank, she would be able to rise above everyone else. Although she would have no real power, she would still be protected by the military. It meant that she wasn't an ordinary singer anymore. She would be a soldier who everyone respected.

Li Yinfei lacked a powerful identity. Once she got the military rank, she would have an identity. She would finally have a say in the matters of the Li family too. She would also be able to obtain more resources from the Li family.

Chapter 1317 Success!

"Don't worry. I'll definitely succeed." Li Yinfei's ambition was as strong, or maybe even stronger than her manager. Major? She wasn't satisfied with this rank. She wanted to be a colonel or a senior colonel if she could. That was the only way she could leave the Li family and become the real Li Yinfei.

"That's good." The manager was elated at Li Yinfei's reply. He gambled his entire future on Li Yinfei. If Li Yinfei succeeded, he succeeded. If she failed, he would fail too. They were on the same boat.

"Okay. It's time for your performance." The manager prompted Li Yinfei when he saw the last performer coming down from the stage.

Li Yinfei took a deep breath to calm herself. She knew that there would be no problem with her performance but the number of participants for this ceremony was still nerve-wracking. She even heard that some of the most influential people in the military would appear in the audience too. Thus, it wasn't just about not making mistakes. It was about being perfect.

The automatic platform rose slowly. The stage was dark.

Li Yinfei's dreamlike voice echoed in the darkness. It was like a voice from heaven consoling the souls of everyone present.

"Tranquil Night." Once the familiar tune was heard, everyone watching the performance, whether they were watching it live or from the virtual world, knew who the performer was. This was the song that turned Li Yinfei into a nationwide star. It was a song to console the sorrow on the battlefield.

The first key made everyone quiet. They listened to the song silently. When it entered the intermezzo, the stage lit up, and Li Yinfei's beautiful face appeared in everyone's gaze. They almost forgot to breathe.

"Goddess Li, Goddess Li." All the soldiers started cheering crazily. They weren't strict and rule-abiding soldiers at this moment. They were just diehard fans of Li Yinfei. They wanted to use their cheers to portray their love for her.

Li Yinfei smiled lightly when she saw the people below going crazy because of her. Her smile was elegant, dignified, and a little distant, as though she was beyond their reach.

Soon, Li Yinfei ended her remarkable performance. She waved at the audience as the platform lowered her to the ground. She returned to the backstage.

"That performance was amazing, my princess." Her manager welcomed her back excitedly. He wanted to hug her to express his happiness.

Li Yinfei frowned and raised her right hand to stop her manager.

Her manager felt that he was being too excited so he stopped in his tracks and didn't dare to get close to her.

"What do you think?" Li Yinfei walked over and whispered.

"That was your most perfect performance. I believe that everyone is mesmerised by you," the manager replied exaggeratedly.

"That's good." Li Yinfei's smile got brighter. "We just need to wait for the notification from the performance department now." She had done everything she could. She hoped that the military would give her a satisfactory answer. Li Yinfei lowered her hands and clenched them tightly. This was her only change of breaking free from the Li family's control. She mustn't miss it.

"We have to wait for a few days. The military is currently busy with the rewards for the divisions." The military would only care about them once they finished dealing with their own people.

"Let's wait. I can afford to wait," Li Yinfei said coldly. She wouldn't leave Planet General until she got her military rank.

"But, you have a performance scheduled soon." The manager gave a bitter smile.

Li Yinfei turned her head immediately and stared coldly at the manager. "Didn't I ask you to cancel all my performances in this period of time?"

"I wasn't the one who accepted this performance." The manager looked helpless. He couldn't decide on Li Yinfei's activities solely as some activities were still arranged by the Li family.

"The Li family?!" Li Yinfei gritted her teeth. "I knew that those old fogeys won't let go of me that easily."

"Yes." The manager nodded. In reality, he was controlled by the Li family too.

"When is it? What event is it?" Li Yinfei was helpless. She just hoped that the event was at a later date so that she could stay on Planet General longer. She would be anxious if she didn't get her military rank. She felt that once she left Planet General, she would have a harder time getting her rank.

"Three days later, the opening ceremony of Shilin on Planet Huzhou." There wasn't much time left. Based on the flight time, they needed to leave by 10 pm tomorrow night. If not, they wouldn't be able to reach in time. Fortunately, they had their own starship. If they took normal passenger ships, they would need to leave now.

"Damn it." Li Yinfei cursed softly. She only had one day left. There was no way she would be able to receive her military rank within one day. She could only contact the performance department again after the performance and arrange for a time to take her rank.

Just as she was feeling frustrated, she thought of something. "Planet General has been on lockdown recently. Will they accept our application to leave?" If they rejected her application, she would have a valid reason for staying here. The Li family couldn't do much about it.

The manager's eyes brightened. He understood Li Yinfei's thoughts. "Okay, I'll go and apply first. If we can't leave, I'll contact the Li family and ask them to reject the performance invitation."

The manager quickly left to apply to leave Planet General. The reason was because Li Yinfei had other performances to attend to.

Li Yinfei wasn't the only one who applied to leave Planet General. Many representatives from the various divisions were preparing to leave within the next two days too.

The military had always been monitoring the spaceport with scrutiny. When they received all the endless applications, they started wondering if they should accept them.

Ling Lan would mostly make use of this opportunity to leave Planet General. The military wanted to prevent her from mingling into the crowd.

"Limit the number of starships leaving everyday. Take special notice of those that have a good relationship with the Ling family."

"But there are so many starships. If we limit them, we will need a month before everyone leaves. They are all important figures of the various divisions and independent armies. They can't leave their positions for too long."

"We can limit for the first few days. Only allow one to two suspicious starships to leave every day. We'll focus on monitoring the suspicious ones."

"Report. We just received a new application to leave Planet General. It's from Goddess Li Yinfei." Someone saw the new application and quickly reported to his senior officer.

"Why does she need to leave so early?" The senior officer was surprised.

"They have a performance scheduled three days later on Planet Huzhou."

"When was the performance arranged?"

"Three months ago," The staff member looked at the time stated on the schedule and replied.

"Troublesome," the senior officer replied in frustration.

"Do we accept it?"

"How many people are there?"

"Besides Li Yinfei and her manager, there are three staff members and eight bodyguards. 13 people in total."

"That's quite little. It'll be easy for us to check them. Let them leave." The senior officer felt that this wasn't a huge problem since they had very little people and everyone's identity was already recorded. There was almost no chance for them to sneak someone out.

"Yes. We succeeded." Li Lanfeng had been watching over these people for a long time. After getting what he wanted, he silently left the virtual world and returned to the real world.

Chapter 1318 Injured?

Li Yinfei was sitting on a sofa while holding a cup of coffee elegantly. She was patiently waiting for her assistant to check if her luggage was all ready.

"Miss, it's all here." Her assistant was sweating profusely as she pushed out various sizes of luggage bags out of the room.

"Okay." Li Yinfei continued sipping her coffee as she looked at the luggage getting piled up over the corner. After finishing her coffee, she slowly got up from the sofa and walked towards the door in her high heels.

Li Yinfei, who would usually have no problems walking in heels, suddenly had her heels caught on the carpet. She couldn't react in time so she fell to the floor with her knees receiving the full brunt of the fall.

Her assistant ran to her terrified as she tried to help her up. However, as she pulled on her arms, Li Yinfei began to cry out in agony even more.

"Don't touch me! You idiot!" Seeing her assistant getting so close to her, Li Yinfei angrily slapped her assistant in the face and shoved her away.

"Miss?!" The assistant held her face and fell to the floor. Her face had a mix of anger and shock.

Li Yinfei didn't pay her any mind. She was already being patient enough to not insult her assistant. She looked towards her other two terrified assistants angrily. "Why aren't you calling Elder Brother Kun to come here yet?"

Elder Brother Kun was the manager the Li family had set up for Li Yinfei.

The two assistants woke up from their stupor and ran to call for Elder Brother Kun immediately. With what happened just now, they didn't dare to get close to Li Yinfei. They were afraid they would get a slap in the face like their colleague.

Elder Brother Kun quickly rushed through the door. After seeing the red-faced Li Yinfei lying on the floor, he angrily yelled, "Are you people idiots? Why aren't you helping Miss Li up."

"No, M-Miss said to not help her up," explained the two assistants who were hiding behind the manager.

"What happened?" Elder Brother Kun walked up beside Li Yinfei and asked sympathetically.

Li Yinfei looked at the assistant who was sobbing on the floor and said coldly, "When we get back to Planet Huzhou, get rid of that idiot and find a replacement." When the assistant pulled on her arms, she made the injury on her knees worse rather than helping her.

"Did she hurt you?" Elder Brother Kun narrowed his eyes when he saw Li Yinfei's swollen knee. He sent his deadly glare to the crying assistant on the floor. If something happened to Li Yinfei's flawless body, he would definitely skin that assistant alive.

The gaze terrified the assistant to the core. She didn't know what she could do to salvage the situation and could only mindlessly shake her head. "I did nothing. It wasn't me…" Her fear caused her tears to uncontrollably flow out from her eyes.

"I'll deal with you later." Elder Brother Kun glared at her ruthlessly. At that moment, he didn't have the patience to listen to the assistant's explanation. He was more worried about whether Li Yinfei was injured or not and whether it would affect her plans.

He immediately contacted the military headquarters and told them about Li Yinfei's injury. He hoped that the military headquarters would send a military doctor to them.

Soon, the military sent over a military doctor. He examined her knee carefully and concluded that it was just a minor injury. She just strained her knee, and just needed a few days of rest.

After hearing the diagnosis, Li Yinfei and Elder Brother Kun were both relieved and disappointed. They were relieved because she was fine, but also disappointed because if there was nothing wrong, they wouldn't have an excuse to stay.

However, even if it was such a minor injury, Li Yinfei couldn't even walk due to the immense pain from her knee. The military doctor was helpless about her pain. He could only just spray some painkiller on her knee. He suggested that she should buy a hover wheelchair to help lessen the burden on her injured knee.

Li Yinfei would never cause herself to be in pain. So, soon after, Elder Brother Kun ordered the crying assistant to make up for herself by going out to buy one.

The assistant could only pitifully wipe away her tears and run out to buy a hover wheelchair.

Elder Brother Kun then realized it was almost time for the registration. He quickly went to the spaceport to register first and told Li Yinfei to bring her three assistants and eight bodyguards with her after.

After a few minutes, the assistant brought back a newly bought hover wheelchair.

The eight bodyguards had already gotten to the door and were waiting for Li Yinfei and the others to come out of the room.

The assistant nodded towards the bodyguards and then dragged the wheelchair into the room. She then closed the door subconsciously or maybe it was because she didn't want them to see Li Yinfei's disheveled appearance.

The eight bodyguards didn't think much of it. Usually, they wouldn't be able to see Li Yinfei in a private setting. Every time she came out of her room, she would have been dressed well with makeup, looking like a goddess.

"Hmph, what did you come back so late? I thought you took the money and ran." The other two assistants would always try to bully her whenever she made a mistake. Usually, she should retreat back and meekly accept any insults coming her way.

"I almost did." However, this time, she replied oddly with a cold tone in her voice.

"Hmm? You being disrespectful now." Not expecting that answer, the assistants got even more angry and glared at her.

The insulted assistant smirked lightly when she saw those angry glares, relishing in their anger.

After having her fill, she snapped her finger and two black-cloaked men appeared out of thin air behind her.

The unexpected scene almost made the two assistants scream out in terror.

The crisp clean snap stunned the two assistants to the floor. When they fell, it was as though they fell into a bed of clouds, muffling any sounds made.

Li Yinfei, who was sitting on the sofa, felt that the atmosphere in the room had turned odd so she turned her head to look behind her.

Seeing her two assistants getting taken out by two black-cloaked men, her eyes open wide in shock. She wanted to scream but her hand was faster as it pinched her thigh tightly. The rational thought given to her by immense pain made her swallow the scream that was about to come out.

"You are a smart one, huh," one of the black-cloaked men said after noticing what he did.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Li Yinfei steeled her expression and asked in a cold tone.

"Actually, you should be asking 'What do you need me to do?' " The reply was said in a joyful tone.

"Alright, what do you need me to do?" Li Yinfei had a faint smile on her face. The stiffness from her face instantly disappeared when she showed her smile.

She was able to get her way within the entertainment industry mostly because of her ability to go with the flow of things. She was now ridding of any hostility between her and the black-cloaked men in order to give herself a chance to live.

"What if I say you have to take us on your ship?" One of the black-cloaked men flashed a devious smile.

"Although I'm not sure who you are, but when you came in, you only knocked out my assistants while not hurting them. I can see that you're not bad people. I don't know why you want to borrow my cruise ship, but from what you have done just now, it's possible for me to take you onto my ship." Li Yinfei crossed her arms on her thighs gracefully with a huge smile on her face as if she was conversing with friends.

"Looks like there's a 'but'." The man sat down on the sofa in front of Li Yinfei. It seemed he was interested in continuing the conversation with Li Yinfei.

Chapter 1319 So, You Know Me

Li Yinfei instantly breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the man showing his willingness to have a conversation with her. When faced with kidnappers, as long as they could be discussed with, it meant that the situation hadn't gotten too bad. Moreover, she still had the possibility of turning the situation around. As long as she dragged on the time here, Elder Brother Kun would know something must have gone wrong when they didn't get to the spaceport in time and also the fact that he couldn't contact her through her communicator.

Li Yinfei believed that as long as Elder Brother Kun contacted the military headquarters, the military headquarters would definitely not let these two intruders get away. As for whether she could get away from the clutches of these two people… she wasn't worried. In the base camp of the military headquarters, there definitely was an imperial realm formidable warrior standing guard even if there wasn't a god realm individual there. As long as they sent one of them over here, saving her would be a piece of cake.

Li Yinfei calmed down even more and her smile became even more intoxicating, "Yes. It's because the information of my entourage boarding the ship has already been sent to the military headquarters. You… won't be able to get past customs." At that moment, Li Yinfei's tone had a hint of disappointment in it, as if she felt pity that she couldn't help them.

"Well, that was unexpected. I thought you would lead us there and then expose us at the customs." The black-cloaked man smiled. He seemed to admire Li Yinfei's honesty.

Li Yinfei replied in a mild-mannered tone, "Since you don't want to hurt me, then I don't want to hurt you as well."

Li Yinfei let the sincerity show in the face. It made it seem that she actually didn't want anyone to get hurt.

The black-cloaked man raised his hands and clapped slowly. "Miss Li, as expected of someone the Li family had put much effort in developing. Your words showed no flaws. If it wasn't for the fact that I know what the Li family has up their sleeves, I might have been fooled by your words."

Li Yinfei's eyes narrowed and her smile froze for a moment. She then said slowly, "I don't know what you're talking about."

The black-cloaked man took off his hood and showed a face that Li Yinfei couldn't be more familiar with.

Li Yinfei shouted out in surprise, "It's you!"

Li Lanfeng smiled and the entire room instantly lit up. Even Li Yinfei, whose looks were 80 to 90 percent similar, felt that the looks she was so proud of seemed less bright compared to Li Lanfeng's smile.

"So, you know me." Li Lanfeng smiled.

Li Yinfei quickly shook her head. "No, no, no, I don't know you."

She indeed didn't know who he was. It was just before she had become Li Yinfei, she had accidentally seen his image in a photograph.

"No matter whether you know me or not, I can only regrettably say that I will need to borrow your identity." The face that Li Yinfei dreamed of having, smiled towards her as he spoke those words.

Li Yinfei instantly understood what he meant. She immediately stood up, ignoring the burning pain in her knees. She immediately pounced towards the door while trying her best to let out screams of fear from her throat to alert the bodyguards outside of what was happening.

She knew what these people wanted to do. They wanted to use her identity and leave Planet General as Li Yinfei. At that moment, Li Yinfei was fully aware of the danger she was in. Her existence was a wrench in their plan, so they wouldn't leave her as she was. If she didn't escape, her only result would be death.

However, in the next second, she felt chains were shackling her body. Her voice was also blocked at the entrance of her throat. She couldn't make a sound no matter how hard she tried.

She mechanically turned her head around. She saw a face that was even more perfect than her own, slowly getting close to her with a smile.

"Don't worry. I just need you to sleep for a short while." That person's voice was so warm and caring that it could make anyone weep with joy. However, the more warm and caring it sounded, the more afraid Li Yinfei was. She could no longer stand being mentally on edge anymore and instantly feel unconscious.

Li Lanfeng smirked with a hint of disdain on his face as he saw Li Yinfei fall to the floor.

"I thought you were going to play with her a bit more." At that moment, the other black-cloaked man appeared out of thin air. It was Ling Lan. She had long been beside Li Yinfei. The fall that hurt Li Yinfei's knee was all Ling Lan's doing.

"Not fun. Kind of boring," Li Lanfeng said indifferently. He didn't like Li Yinfei. After all, Li Yinfei was using his looks in public to make a name for herself. However, after using her identity multiple times to get what he wanted, he disliked her existence less than before. If Li Yinfei was smarter with it, Li Lanfeng wouldn't mind her doing random things with his looks in public.

Li Lanfeng then turned around towards the assistant who cooperated with them at the beginning. He smiled and said, "So, you still have a choice. I can knock you out and after a few hours, someone will come to save you. Then, you can say that your life was threatened so you were forced to cooperate with us. That way you can put all of this on us."

The assistant gritted her teeth and then shook her head. "I'll go with you, but you have to promise that the Li family won't hurt me or my family for this matter. I hope you can promise me on this matter."

"Are you going to believe me or her?" Li Lanfeng pointed towards Li Yinfei, who was lying on the floor.

The assistant glanced at Li Lanfeng and nodded. "I understand. I will believe you."

If their two faces were seen separately, then perhaps no one would be able to see the difference. However, when put together, the difference between the real thing and a fake was easy to identify.

The Li family creating a fake in the public's eye was definitely to protect the real thing. After looking at her options, she knew which one was more important to the Li family even if she was just a small insignificant assistant.

"After leaving, you can keep working for her. If you don't want to do that, we can also arrange a new job for you," said Li Lanfeng indifferently. Even if he left the Federation with Ling Lan, it didn't mean he lost control of the Li family. Especially when Ling Lan was still alive, the Li family didn't dare to offend Li Lanfeng.

After thinking about all that, Li Lanfeng had a self-mocking smile on his face. He now had everything he wanted and would not part with Ling Lan anymore. With Ling Lan here, he got everything he wanted. If Ling Lan was no longer in this world someday… No, he definitely wouldn't let that possibility appear.

A hint of killing intent flashed between Li Lanfeng's eyes.

"I want to leave her. I'm disgusted just seeing her right now." The assistant looked at Li Yinfei in contempt. The slap Li Yinfei gave her made the assistant turn sides. Additionally, she now knew who the real treasure the Li family wanted to protect. That fake Li Yinfei had completely made her feel disgusted.

"After we're done, you can contact the Li family. You can say that it was me who told you to find them." Li Lanfeng waved his hand and gave this problem for the Li family to handle. If they wanted to use him to acquire merits and benefits, then they must also cooperate with him to get rid of any tracks he was going to leave behind.

Li Lanfeng trusted that with Li family's power, they definitely would be able to handle this situation.

"Now, we will see how you will perform." Li Lanfeng's black cloak slowly disappeared. He then put on one of the dress Li Yinfei liked and then sat on the hover wheelchair." If we can't get past the customs, then the promises I made with you will be nulled."

The assistant took out a blanket and softly placed it over Li Lanfeng's legs. After hearing those words, her hands that were holding the blanket instantly trembled. However, not long after, she calmed down.

"Yes, I understand."

1320 Little White"s Appearance

On the other side of the room, Ling Lan and Luo Lang dragged the unconscious Li Yinfei and the other two assistants into the washroom. After that, they changed into assistant uniforms, turning into Li Yinfei's other two assistants.

Ling Lan walked over and gestured for the actual assistant to leave. She was going to man the wheelchair.

The assistant immediately let go and backed up a few steps. Luo Lang then obediently stood beside Ling Lan.

Li Lanfeng then nodded towards the assistant. The assistant took a deep breath and walked to the door. She turned her head and looked at the three people all with unique auras. The three different auras all drew people's attention. Even beside Li Lanfeng's otherworldly beauty, the other two people didn't seem much less breathtaking.

She quickly shook her head to get rid of that image in her head and not long after, the aura around Ling Lan and Luo Lang turned ordinary. She then realized he could no longer see what they looked like. It was as though the scene before her was covered by a layer of fog.

The assistant quickly slapped her cheeks to wake herself up. She then steeled herself and opened the door.

Hearing the door opening, the eight bodyguards turned their gaze towards them.

Ling Lan was pushing Li Lanfeng and walked out. The eight bodyguards were stunned the moment they saw Li Lanfeng's face. They felt that Miss Li's charm seemed to increase by quite a lot. Even though they were used to seeing her face, they still couldn't help but stare.

"What are you all looking at? Come here and help us load the luggage." The assistant saw that the eight bodyguards were all staring at Li Yinfei, so she instantly shouted out coldly with an annoyed look on her face.

"Oh, oh, oh, yes, yes, yes…" The eight bodyguards also didn't know what they were doing. After being yelled at by the assistant, they took the luggage as if they were drunk and walked down the stairs with wobbly steps.

As they left, the rotating surveillance camera finally returned to normal. It was just no one had discovered that had happened.

Li Lanfeng got out of the hotel. Right as they were about to get into the hover car, a white blur was seen flashing past their door. It was so fast that the bodyguards didn't even react to it.

Ling Lan, who was sitting beside Li Lanfeng, had a look of shock as she stared at Little White who became flattened because of how fast it was going.

She wasn't worried when Little White stayed with Lingtian. Moreover, it could also protect her friends. In Ling Lan's mind, by not taking Little White, she was killing two birds with one stone. Thus, she didn't want to take Little White with her.

She didn't think that after not seeing it for so long, Little White actually came to find her. It was looking at her with its sad big round eyes.

Little White knew this wasn't a safe place. Other than burying itself in Ling Lan's arms, it didn't make any sound.

Li Lanfeng looked at how Little White was rubbing against Ling Lan and felt his teeth itch. He was just about to grab Little White out of Ling Lan's arms.

However, he saw Ling Lan give him a look that told him "Just let it be."

Li Lanfeng could only helplessly take back his hand. He made up his mind. When they get to safety, he will ruthlessly beat some sense into that little white ball.

He also suspected Little White was female. Otherwise, why would it keep on clinging to Ling Lan?

"Little White, how you get past customs will depend on yourself." Ling Lan used spiritual power to communicate with Little White. The reason they borrowed the identity of Li Yinfei was because they predicted that the customs would definitely have those domain concept detectors. What was even worse was that there perhaps might be an imperial realm formidable warrior waiting for them to get caught.

Little White nodded to show that it understood. It didn't want to be left by its master again. As for a disguise, he wasn't afraid.

"Hmm, I could use a cushion for my back," Li Lanfeng suddenly gave a suggestion for Little White's disguise.

Little White grit its teeth towards Li Lanfeng to show that it was angry. It knew that jerk was definitely trying to get back at it for what it did.

"That is an interesting idea." Ling Lan smirked.

This was the first time Li Lanfeng saw Ling Lan smile without her disguise. He was dumbfounded by it.

Little White discovered Li Lanfeng's odd behavior and showed a ruthless expression towards Li Lanfeng. A small tentacle rose up as it gave him a standard middle finger.

Li Lanfeng smiled like spring had arrived. He put out his finger and began to rub Little White. As expected, just as before, Little White quickly surrendered to the finger and became cute and adorable in the next second.

This scene along with that smile that could instantly bring colors to the world, changed into warmth that slowly reached the depth of Ling Lan's heart. Ling Lan's mood became much better. It was no wonder that the kings of history liked to see beautiful women when they were in a bad mood. It was definitely a great way of changing one's mood.

After Elder Brother Kun finished registering their identities, he waited at the customs. Just as he was about to be somewhat impatient from waiting, he saw three hover cars flying over quickly.

He didn't need to guess to know that it was definitely his family's Goddess Li.

The staff members at the customs had already known that Li Yinfei would go past the customs today. Those who didn't have work on their hand were all crammed near this area. They were waiting to get a close-up of the goddess in their dreams, Goddess Li, Li Yinfei.

The eight bodyguards walked out of the cars first. Two of them went to the trunks to get the luggage. The other six spread out near the hover car at the very front and waited for Li Yinfei to come out.

The three assistants then got out of the cars. Ling Lan took out the hover wheelchair from the trunk and flattened Little White into a cushion, putting it on the back of the chair.

Little White used its little tentacles to fix itself onto the chair and waited for that despicable jerk Li Lanfeng to lean on it…

Every time Little White returned to its usual fierce self, it would be annoyed at the things Li Lanfeng did towards him. It hadn't been truly done in by that jerk's one finger. Li Lanfeng must have definitely used some despicable means to turn it meek. It was probably spiritual power interference. Little White knew about it because it was also adept at using spiritual power.

Ling Lan pushed the hover wheelchair to the car door. She then saw Li Lanfeng smile at her with his hand out of the door. That pose…

He wanted her to hold him in her arms?

A drop of cold sweat dropped from Ling Lan's forehead. Although she was pretending to be a man… No, she was now pretending to be a woman… Ling Lan felt confused for a moment. No matter if she was a man or woman, Li Lanfeng was actually a man. Although they were all pretending to be women, wouldn't Li Lanfeng feel uncomfortable in that kind of position? Was his acting too over the top?

Ling Lan could only think of this reason.

Thus, she helplessly brought out Li Lanfeng from the car in her arms. Her movements were very skilled. Li Lanfeng also cooperated with her and locked onto her neck as he buried himself in her arms.

Yes, Ling Lan remembered. It seemed it wasn't the first time she held him like a princess.

In the place no one could see, Li Lanfeng, who was buried in Ling Lan's arms, had a satisfied smirk on his face.