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Chapter 512 - Talent!

"You and I both know that, from this situation, even if Ling Lan is able to successfully eliminate the Second Men's Military Academy, in the end, these allied forces of the Second Men's Military Academy will still be able to break through the First Men's Military Academy's headquarters and eliminate them." Ling Xiao softly spoke out the reality. This was also the reason he was worried.

He Xuyang was silent. Ling Xiao's speculation was the same as his own. He looked at the scene of Lin Xiao battling in Area G17 and softly said, "The only hope now is that the allied forces of Young Master Lan can pick up some slack."

"Allies? I don't think they can be trusted. Who knows when they may stab you in the back?" Ling Xiao said with a sigh.

He Xuyang expression changed slightly. "You think the First Co-ed Military Academy will turn around and betray them?"

Ling Xiao shook his head and said, "That's not what I meant. I just meant that if you lean on a mountain, the mountain topples. If you lean on water, the water flows away. If you lean on someone, that person may run away. It is better to trust yourself. It is safer and more reliable!"

He Xuyang nodded. Ling Xiao's words were logical. Only, was it possible to resolve the crisis only by relying on the people from the First Men's Military Academy?

Area Q.

At this moment, Ling Lan was silently leading her five team members in the direction of the Second Men's Military Academy.

Li Lanfeng's injuries were too severe, and they also needed someone to defend the mecha, so Ling Lan had left him behind. This result made Li Lanfeng feel sad. The feeling of being abandoned made him thirst for power even more.

The six of their group, including Ling Lan, silently sneaked into the Second Men's Military Academy's headquarters. The Second Men's Military Academy's headquarters was located around a hilly forest area that blocked off any wind from getting in. From a bird's-eye view, there was nothing around aside from the forest. However, when looking up from below, people would be able to clearly see the sky and know what was happening. This was also why Area Q was easier to defend and harder to invade. It was pretty much impossible for anyone to plan a sneak attack. It could only be taken down by attacking it upfront and bit by bit until reaching the center.

However, this environment wasn't advantageous for mechas. However, it was different for Ling Lan and the others who had come after leaving their mecha behind. These bushes and vines under in this lush forest were the best places to hide in plain sight.

Ling Lan's area of effect powers had already begun. A draft of cold air silently covered up their presence within the forest and bushes. Even if enemy mecha had heat detectors, they wouldn't be able to detect them. Only by coming to this location and feeling it for themselves would they then perhaps be able to feel that something was off. However, this wasn't possible. No one would not use mecha and investigate outside the headquarters physically.

After going past a patrolling mecha team that was passing by, Ling Lan calculated that the opposition had already flown out of the one-kilometer range of the heat detectors. Then she led her team members out of the bushes and tree and continued to sneak in.

Just like that, Ling Lan hid here and there. Although she wasted a lot of time, after 3 hours, they finally got close to the center location of the Second Men's Military Academy.

Ling Lan waved her hand, and her other team members tacitly found their own hiding spots. Like a clever cat, Ling Lan reached the final circle of trees in the very heart of the headquarters.

Ling Lan didn't stick her head out, but instead began to use her spiritual power. She turned her spiritual power into a few thin lines, which were then made to silently move towards the center area.

The center of the enemy headquarters was a large flat field, which was exactly as Ling Lan had guessed. The only thing that Ling Lan regretted was that this field was way too flat; it actually didn't have any sort of forest or bush. There was pretty much no hope in sneaking in successfully with the mecha that were on patrol watching them. There might be some opportunities to be found if they waited for night to fall; however, morning had just come a few moments ago. They would have to wait for another 6 to 7 hours for night to fall again.

Unfortunately, Ling Lan didn't have that much time. Little Four had already given her a live broadcast of the serious situation in Area G17. If she wanted to get out of this situation, she had to take down the Second Men's Military Academy's headquarters as soon as possible. Once the opposition was eliminated, the pressure in Area G17 would decrease.

"Area G2… I still made a mistake." Ling Lan silently sighed. The lesser opponents that she had ignored at the beginning had now become the most important piece in turning around the entire battle. As expected, she shouldn't underestimate any opponent that could bring about problems for her.

Ling Lan put her frustration into the back of her head. This was a lesson for her, a lesson that might even make Ling Lan pay a hefty price. However, because of the mistake that she made today, Ling Lan would no longer underestimate any weak and unrelated individuals and passersby in the future.

After understanding the whole geography of the headquarters, Ling Lan quickly backed up to where her team members were.

"There isn't any place to hide, and there are still six mecha patrolling the center area. We can't get close to the tent on the inside." Ling Lan used hand signals to tell her team members the current situation.

"What do we do now? Wait for night?" Zhao Jun asked using hand signals. They didn't have a cheating machine like Little Four, so they naturally didn't know about the danger their own headquarters in Area G17 was.

"We can't wait. I've received information that Jiang Shaoyu has led the Second Men's Military Academy to attack Area G17." Ling Lan told this information to her team members, whose expressions changed instantly. They didn't think that something big had actually happened without them knowing.

"We must attack as soon as possible. We need to take down the Second Men's Military Academy's headquarters before they take ours." Qi Long forcefully used hand signals to express that they had to attack.

The other five also made the same signals. They were all recommending that they attack right away.

Ling Lan went silent. If they were in mecha, she wouldn't care about attacking up front since they would have the mecha to protect them; even if they were hit, they wouldn't be in any danger. Right now, however, they had only come physically. If they were discovered, ended up facing mecha and were attacked, they might pay the price with their lives. This wasn't something Ling Lan wanted to see.

Ling Lan fell into deep thought for a few minutes. She thought of a few ideas but shot them down one by one. She was very frustrated that there wasn't actually any way to make sure it was perfectly safe.

She looked towards Li Shiyu and used hand signals to ask, "Do you have any strong medicines that can break through a mecha cockpit's protection and knock out the mecha operator inside?"

Li Shiyu rolled his eyes and stared at her. He used his hands to say, "If there was a medicinal agent like that, then who would need mecha operators. I could just toss in a knock-out missile and control the entire situation of a battle."

It seemed that she was being whimsical! Ling Lan remembered that some talents could bring about this kind of result, such as hypnosis or the like. She looked around and discovered that the talents of her members were not of this kind. Her gaze ended up landing on Zhao Jun. This guy had joined the team later than everyone else, and she actually didn't know what talent he had awakened. Thus, without being hopeful, she asked, "Zhao Jun, what talent did you awaken?" If someone could become a special-class operator, then they would have awakened a talent.

Zhao Jun's face froze. He went silent for a few seconds before he then dispiritedly used his hands to say, "Decadent Voice".

Everyone held their hands to their mouth to quickly muffle the laugh that was about to come out. They didn't expect that a big, strong man like Zhao Jun had actually awakened such a soft and beautiful talent. It was hilarious.

Zhao Jun stared angrily at them. He had known that these people would make fun of him if they found out about his innate talent; thus, when he joined the battle team, he didn't really bring this up to anyone's attention.

"Decadent Voice!" Ling Lan's eyes lit up. This talent was made for this predicament. Was she really the female lead that God was looking over? She had just asked indifferently and actually got an answer to solve the problem.

Ling Lan immediately used her spiritual power and told Zhao Jun her thoughts about how to use Decadent Voice.

By using spiritual power to communicate, even if someone was close by, they wouldn't be able to hear the sound of them communicating. As long as there wasn't anyone whose spiritual power was above Ling Lan's in the surrounding area, no one would be able to discover the waves of spiritual power. This type of communication was most definitely the safest at this time and place.

Zhao Jun wore a bitter expression, nodding as he listened. In the end, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and activated his innate talent.

After doing so, he felt an energy force that attempted to enter the depths of his mindspace. Zhao Jun didn't panic; he knew that this was Boss Lan's spiritual power. He broke through all the protection in his mind in order to aid Ling Lan's spiritual power in getting into his mindspace.

"Zhao Jun, what ability does your Decadent Voice lean towards?" Ling Lan's voice rang in Zhao Jun's mind.

Zhao Jun replied using his consciousness, "It's different from Li Yinfei's charming ability. My voice will make people feel sluggish and slow."

"That is a good ability."

"How is that a good ability? I can't use it when I operate a mecha and it can't be improved in any way," Zhao Jun said with regret. When he had awakened his innate talent, he was really hoping it was something that would go well with mechas. He didn't expect that he would get this ability, which made him very disappointed. In the end, he ended up never mentioning what his innate talent was to others. Even Li Lanfeng didn't know this information. If Boss Lan didn't ask, he would have brought this information with him to the grave. In reality, Zhao Jun admired Qi Long's innate talent, Animal Instincts, the most. That talent was almost made for mecha operators.

Ling Lan humphed coldy, which made Zhao Jun's heart instantly tighten up, and the embarrassment he originally felt regarding his talent instantly disappeared. Now that Ling Lan's spiritual power was inside Zhao Jun's mindspace, he could clearly feel Ling Lan's discontent.

"No talent is useless. It's the same even with Decadent Voice that people think is of the entertainment category." Ling Lan's cold voice rang in Zhao Jun's mindspace.

"What do you mean you can't use it for operating mechas? I have actually never understood why the Federation categorized talents. Entertainment, logistics and support, intelligence, beast-like physical skills… In my eyes, any talent can be used on mecha operating," Ling Lan said without hesitation.

This theory wasn't only in her thoughts because it was at the same time one of the learning space's laws. In the learning space, the only difference between talents laid in the degree of power, and not whether they were useless or not.

Ling Lan words made Zhao Jun's eyes light up. He asked excitedly, "Boss Lan, you mean that my Decadent Voice can be used in operating mecha?"

"Why not?" Ling Lan retorted.

"How do I use it? Boss Lan, tell me quickly," Zhao Jun said hurriedly.

"When operating your mecha, you can activate your talent and let your voice affect the opponent, causing them to feel tired. You didn't think of this possibility?" Ling Lan responded with another question.

Chapter 513 - Disguise!

Zhao Jun's excitement instantly turned cold. "Then I would have to do two things at once. I can't operate the mecha and sing at the same time." Zhao Jun's face fell after saying this. He couldn't imagine that other than being a tone-deaf man, he would also have to sing at the top of his lungs and lose all his pride in the process.

"Why do you have to sing? Is there a rule that says you have to sing to use your Decadent Voice? You can't use normal conversation?" Ling Lan asked again.

"Talking?" Zhao Jun's spirit was shaken once again.

"Yeah. As long as you keep talking, you don't have to think and just speak whatever, then let infuse your talent into your words," Ling Lan recommended.

"Yeah, you're right. How come I didn't think of this?" Ling Lan prompt had made Zhao Jun finally realize it. He had found a path that was suitable for him, and this would allow him to become a terrifying killing machine in future battlefields and make opposing countries fear him. He would also get the alias, "The Reaper".

"Of course, you'd have to think about it yourself since the talent is yours." At this moment, Ling Lan didn't think that the conversation they had unintentionally would break Zhao Jun out of his shell and in the end make him become a god of killing on the battlefield.

"I understand, Boss!" Zhao Jun said excitedly. He had surreptitiously changed the way he addressed her, and this meant that he had truly recognized Ling Lan as his real boss and was not just calling her Boss Lan out of respect.

It seemed like the two of them had conversed for some time, but because they were in the mindspace, in the eyes of Qi Long and the others, Boss Lan and Zhao Jun had only gone silent for a few seconds, following which they heard Zhao Jun sing softly with his eyes closed.

Zhao Jun had never tried to use his talent through speaking; thus, Ling Lan still let him use his own way to do it.

Not a single word of his singing was on beat and note, making Qi Long and the others feel irritated. They subconsciously shut out this irritation and the sound disappeared slowly. As they stared blankly into space, their cognitive reaction actually becoming sluggish, they suddenly felt as if their minds were given a prod and they woke up. It turned out that Ling Lan saw that they were being affected as well, so she used her spiritual charge to wake them up.

Zhao Jun had hardly ever used the ability of his innate talent and hadn't learnt to control it, which led to his Decadent Voice being unable to differentiate between friend and foe, affecting everyone.

Ling Lan carefully used her spiritual power to make the energy from his Decadent Voice expand towards a certain direction. It had covered almost the entire center location.

The movements of the mecha that were originally patrolling around suddenly grew slowed and in the end, they made a pose towards one direction and stopped moving.

"This is a good opportunity." Being able to multi-task, Ling Lan immediately instantly waved her hand upon seeing the situation, telling her team members to begin the operation. She first dragged Zhao Jun along and jumped out from the bushes and forest. They landed on the ground and darted into a tent.

Qi Long and the others followed them inside. Their luck wasn't bad because the tent Ling Lan had chosen was the tent for supplies. There was only one person responsible for the distribution of supplies, and he was currently leaning on a box with his eyes closed due to Zhao Jun's ability.

Ling Lan took a miniature tranquilizer dart and shot it towards him, instantly knocking the other party out cold. After discovering the power and convenience of the tranquilizer darts, everyone in Ling Lan's team had enough of them in their bags. In addition, Li Shiyu was very obsessed with making these tranquilizer darts. In short, these weapons would never go out of stock.

Ling Lan had naturally chosen this tent for a reason; it was close to ten other tents and it had only one person inside along with countless boxes which made for good hiding places.

Right then, Zhao Jun took a deep breath. Singing was really something that was difficult for him. In order to achieve the maximum effect, he held his breath and sang with a single breath.

Zhao Jun's singing had stopped, and the mecha operators outside seemed like they had awoken as they continued their original movements. Since Ling Lan and the rest of her team were quick and took only a few seconds moving into the tent, the mecha operators ignored this delay in time.

Right then, one team of people were walking towards this tent. Hearing the sounds, Ling Lan waved her hands. Out of the six of them, Xie Yi was the one whose physique was most similar to the person who was responsible for distributing supplies. He quickly took of that person's clothes and put them on himself. The others all hid in the back, with Qi Long holding on to that person that they took the clothes off from. He darted behind a box in the corner and hid.

A few seconds later, the curtain at the entrance of the tent was lifted up, and seven or eight people immediately entered. One of them mumbled, "This weather is really unpredictable. It was so hot I was dying just a moment ago and now it's so cold that I can't take it anymore."

"It's already day 3, and you're still not used to it?" a companion asked in surprise.

"You know that I come from planet Flame. No matter how hot it is, I will be able to endure it. However, once it gets cold, my body will automatically reject it," the first speaker replied with a bitter smile.

"I guess that's right. Actually, if you said that earlier, you could have just stayed in the resting area and not come out here. These supplies can actually be taken just by the rest of us," his companion said with concern.

"It's alright. The more I stay still the colder it gets. It's better if a move a bit. It'll feel better," the first speaker said indifferently.

At this moment, Xie Yi had his head down and was leaning towards a box as though he was very tired and had fallen asleep.

The person leading the group saw this and was not happy. He said, "This guy Zhou Jiyun used his connections to get himself an easy job and actually decided to just be lazy."

One person beside him said with a hint of jealousy, "It can't helped that he's someone from the Zhou family, a top class elite family. The commander had to give it to him for their sake."

His words made the other people show an expression of envy and jealousy. The Second Men's Military Academy and the top class elite family had an agreement. Although they would supply much battle strength for the Second Men's Military Academy, their special privileges were still there.

The leader of these people let go of his discontent and walked forward. He bent down to nudge Xie Yi's shoulder and yelled, "Zhou Jiyun, wake up." Not all those who were from the Zhou family were exceptional and outstanding. For example, this person that was in front them was useless beyond the scope of useless. He had gotten this close to him yet he could actually still be fast asleep and not wake up. He was really slow in reacting.

Just as this thought crossed through his mind, he saw a silver flash in front of his eyes. He felt a slight sting on his forehead and then he instantly went unconscious.

Xie Yi used his right hand to push against that person's chest to make sure he didn't fall over, while he used his left to show he wasn't happy being woken up, immediately pushing away the hand that the other party had placed on his shoulder. He mumbled, "Who is it?"

The people in the back didn't feel anything wrong. Right then, Xie Yi immediately grabbed hold of the unconscious person's shoulder, bit his lip and said, "You again!?" Then he turned around to tackle him onto the ground, holding up his right hand and getting ready to beat him up.

Since Xie Yi had blocked off the vision of the people in the back, they didn't discover that their companion was already unconscious. They saw that Xie Yi was about to beat him, so they quickly ran up to stop him…

Their attention was all on Xie Yi. Seeing this, Ling Lan and the others, who were hiding elsewhere, each shot out one miniature tranquilizer dart. Ling Lan shot three of them consecutively and took down the rest of the members of this group in an instant.

Seeing that his team had taken down all them, Xie Yi stood up. Ling Lan waved her hand, signaling for everyone to change their clothes, and they immediately found the most suitable clothes that fit for themselves and changed into them.

Everyone quickly changed. Although Ling Lan was leaning towards a more slim and small body figure and if she chose a small size to wear, it would be still too big for her. However, Ling Lan didn't think that this was an issue because there was someone who had a bigger issue; the clothes didn't fit Luo Lang when he wore it, and this immediately made him make a face. He wore a seemingly bullied expression which made everyone laugh.

Ling Lan didn't know how to feel. She didn't whether she should be grateful or hateful regarding Luo Lang's existence. While helping her hide her gender, he had also simultaneously reminded her that she didn't really have the beauty and tenderness of a young teenage girl.

In the end, everyone decided that Luo Lang would walk in their middle, in case someone found out that their clothes didn't fit. Everyone also took some things from the tent and walked out towards the other tents, brash and forthright. They even conversed amongst themselves as they went. This extremely normal scene make the patrol mecha operators in the entire area glance at them before looking elsewhere in the next second.

The mecha operators definitely didn't imagine the possibility of others successfully sneaking in when they had surveillance in the entire area. They also didn't think that such intruders would be so daring and change into their uniforms right under their noses.

Every time they went past a tent, Ling Lan would use her spiritual power to investigate it. When she discovered that the tent didn't contain the beacon, she would then turn towards another tent. After continuing to walk like this, they finally found their objective and Ling Lan was delighted. She was about to lead her team members in that direction and had yet to get close, when suddenly the curtain of a tent beside them was opened. One person peeked out, saw their backs towards them and yelled, "Why are you guys going to the Commander's quarters? We're waiting for you to bring the ingredients to make some food."

Ling Lan's hand shook slightly and one tranquilizer dart was surreptitiously shot out. Qi Long, who was in the rear-line, tacitly jumped towards the door and held up the person who was falling out of the tent. He softly said, "Why are you yelling? There's a situation in the supplies area. We're afraid that it'll be leaked and wanted to surreptitiously report it. If you want to know, then come with us…"

"… It's that Zhou Jiyun…" Qi Long deliberately said this in a lowered voice. Amidst his mumbling, he clearly disclosed this part. The conversation they heard at the supply area revealed that it seemed this Zhou Jiyun wasn't very liked by his team.

As expected, the other people in the tent, who had looked towards the guy who had yelled at the tent entrance, heard Qi Long's indistinct words and understood. It was possible that Zhou Jiyun had offended someone again. However, in the past, people were still willing to endure it. Now that the commander had left, without the commander's pressure, some couldn't take it anymore.

These people instantly looked away, but their ears perked up. They were trying to clearly hear Qi Long and the others' conversation. They wanted to know how they were going to take revenge on Zhou Jiyun.

When they looked away, Qi Long dragged that guy out of the tent entrance and drew down the curtain as he left in order to block off their line of sight.

Chapter 514 - Sharpen Your Swords!

Xie Yi walked beside Qi Long without making a sound, and then the two of them held the unconscious person, one on each side, and dragged him towards the commander's tent. Qi Long continued to softly speak, "The situation's like this…"

Afterwards, Qi Long's voice became even softer and only a few words of bribery and corruption could be heard, making those in the tents want to go out and listen to what was being said clearly.

However, after thinking that Strategist Zhuge was in the commander's quarters, they instantly put that thought behind their head. They didn't want to see that smiley face of his. In a friendly atmosphere, he could make someone homeless and bankrupt without that person seeing through his calculations…

Ling Lan saw there were only three people inside. She didn't pause to think, simply lifting up the curtain and walking in.

The one closest to the door was a guard of some sort. Ling Lan quickly glanced towards him. Her Qi-Jin had just reached the primary stage of activation.

The other party saw that someone actually walked in without reporting first. He immediately became angry and said, "Who is it? Being so disrespectful to the rules."

Ling Lan was very calm. "I have urgent news that I need to report," she said with a serious face.

This made the anger of that person settle down a bit. He turned around and looked inside.

Inside the tent were two people, who had been looking at and studying a map. One of them had heard the commotion at the tent entrance and he had instantly frozen up. In contrast, the other person raised his head, smiled carelessly and said, "Little Gao, it's alright. Let him come over here."

Little Gao's expression calmed down and he pointed towards Ling Lan, saying, "You go and report!" He then pointed at Qi Long and the others and said, "You guys stay here and don't move."

Ling Lan used her right hand to give a quick signal to her team members behind her. The smiling individual saw this and didn't overlook this small action, his expression changing instantly.

Right then, the person who had frozen up suddenly opened his mouth and tried to scream, "Enemy attack…"

Unfortunately, before he could scream out, his eyes rolled backwards and he fell to the ground. The person beside him quickly looked at him and discovered that there was half a needle sticking out from his neck area. That person's expression shuddered again.

It turns out that Ling Lan had shot a miniature tranquilizing dart at him the moment he was about to call for help.

Little Gao saw this scene and was instantly stupefied. Right when he realized it was an enemy attack, Qi Long and Luo Lang moved together, one on the right and one on the left, each one of them stabbing a tranquilizer dart into that person's neck area.

The person who had looked at Ling Lan and the others with a smile didn't change his expression. He sighed softly and said, "I have always schemed against others, but I didn't think that our own headquarters would be in other people's plans. Which military academy are you guys from? Wait, don't tell me yet. Let me take a guess."

He fell into deep thought for a few seconds before saying without hesitation, "You guys are from the First Men's Military Academy and you should be their commander, Commander Ling, right?" The other party's memory was definitely good. He had instantly spoken out Ling Lan's identity.

Ling Lan looked at him indifferently and said, "Yes, you're right. What is your name, senior?

That man smiled bitterly and said, "Zhuge Jingming!"

"Empyreal Zhuge!" Ling Lan said calmly. "I've heard so much about you!"

"Your tone doesn't sound like you've heard of me." Zhuge Jingming shook his head and smiled bitterly. Was he mocking him?

"I didn't think that you guys would be so daring as to attack the headquarters after leaving your mecha behind. Do you guys not fear death?" Zhuge Jingming could not understand the madness of the six people standing in front of him. This move of theirs, in his eyes, was without a doubt the same as suicide.

"That's because no one thought that anyone would march to their death. Thus, we are able to stand here right now," Ling Lan said calmly.

Hearing this, Zhuge Jingming's eyes instantly flickered. He continued to sigh and said, "That's true. In the battlefield, people will do anything to win. Life isn't the only thing that is important. I was wrong. I didn't look at the battle royale like it was a real battlefield. You, on the other hand, believed it to be a real battlefield. That's why you won."

Ling Lan didn't say anything and only looked around in the tent. She immediately discovered the launcher. Right when she moved towards it, Zhuge Jingming said, "The Second Men's Military Academy is already your trophy. There are still 10-15 hours left of the battle royale. You probably aren't in a hurry, Commander Ling. On the other hand, I have a question that I would like to ask Commander Ling. I'm not sure if Commander Ling could help me with my inquiry?"

Ling Lan coldly glanced at Zhuge Jingming, her glare piercing into his heart. "I know you're trying to drag this out."

Hearing this, Zhuge Jingming he feeling he got from that cold glare from before instantly disappeared. He smiled bitterly once again with an innocent expression and his hand open as he said, "The Zhuge Family focuses on developing cognition. In terms of physical skills, we only need to make sure our body is healthy. You guys are all strong individuals and should clearly be aware of the real level of my physical skills. I can't compare to any of you guys since I'm only at the Manifestation level. Even if I wanted to turn the situation around, I wouldn't have that capability." Zhuge Jingming's expression and words were all sincere, making people involuntarily want to trust him.

At that moment, Ling Lan had already walked up to the launcher. She took out the launcher that belonged to the Second Men's Military Academy's commander and looked at it in detail. She then asked, "This is Jiang Shaoyu's launcher, right?"

Zhuge Jingming knew that he couldn't deceive Ling Lan, so he nodded and said, "Of course, Commander Ling. You know very well that the headquarters requires the commander's launcher to be activated."

Hearing this, Ling Lan's lips perked up. She slowly exerted some power from her finger and that launcher was instantly crushed into dust. In the end, Ling Lan flicked her finger softly, removing the residue from her finger onto the floor and leaving no traces.

This scene made Zhuge Jingming's eyelids jump. He didn't know what the other's action meant. Was it done to scare him?

Ling Lan then turned around towards Zhuge Jingming. Wearing a half-smile, she said, "There's still some time. I'll listen to your question."

Zhuge Jingming was extremely happy. The reason he had wanted to ask a question was to buy time. It had already been 12 hours since Jiang Shaoyu had led his team out. If everything had gone well, he was probably already attacking the First Men's Military Academy's headquarters. These people in front of him might not know of this situation, and thus they had a chance to turn things around.

Zhuge Jingming focused and calmed himself. He slowly said, "I want to ask about how you guys snuck through Area Q. Don't tell me you guys came here without mecha from the beginning. Even if you were to rush, you would still not have been able to arrive here by now." Although he was trying to drag out the time, Zhuge Jingming still wanted to know the answer to this question, which was why he had simply asked outright.

"There's something called a disguise. Just like how we are now," Ling Lan responded calmly.

"But we have ways of telling you apart. Even if you somehow managed to get past one checkpoint, you couldn't possibly get past so many of the other ones." Zhuge Jingming didn't believe Ling Lan's words.

"There's also something called information!" Ling Lan glanced at Zhuge Jingming. That piercing cold expression of hers frightened Zhuge Jingming. He kept feeling that his thoughts were being read by the opponent… How was this possible! At a certain distance, even mecha would not be able to get information from thousands of miles away.

Although Zhuge Jingming was telling himself to not get worried, Ling Lan's glance had been too intense. It made him involuntarily close his eyelids in order to block off the eyes that looked through into his soul.

Ling Lan's lips perked up a bit and showed a hint of a mocking expression. She took out something small that she had brought with them all the way here and at the same time said, "There's also something called loopholes! They won't disappear after a plan is made." After saying that, her finger pressed down and the item she took out was put into the receiver.

Ling Lan action caused Zhuge Jingming's expression to change slightly, and his heart instantly felt it was like being submerged in water.

"Don't worry. I still haven't pushed down the button to turn it on. You still have time." Ling Lan glanced at Zhuge Jingming indifferently. That glance of hers was emotionless, seeming as though Zhuge Jingming didn't exist in the eyes of his opponent.

This feeling of being looked down upon made Zhuge Jingming feel extremely humiliated. From his birth, he was the prodigal son. He was expected to inherit the next generation of the existence of the God Machine. Up until now, his life had been entirely smooth sailing. He was valued by his family and friends, and even the proud Jiang Shaoyu had no choice but to yield to him… This had made Zhuge Jingming become conceited, believing that there was no one in the world that would look down upon him.

However, all of this was overthrown by Ling Lan. It wasn't that Ling Lan was looking down on him, but it was the fact that she had totally disregarded him. Zhuge, the God Machine that everyone respected, was the same as an average person in the eyes of the other. No matter if it was the feeling of glory given to him by his family, or his own dignity, they were both extremely hurt by this.

Zhuge Jingming could not help but hate the cold young man standing in front of him. Why did he look down on him…? Why him… Why…

"Because you're my prisoner and I'm a guest, and I will become the master of this place." Ling Lan's cold voice pierced Zhuge Jingming's heart, which caused his originally chaotic expression to instantly clear up, and he started to have cold sweats. Without realizing it, he had actually fallen into the trap of hate in his heart.

Zhuge Jingming looked at Ling Lan with a complicated expression. He didn't know whether to hate the other for letting him fall into the trap of hate in his own heart, or be grateful that he helped him out of the trap.

"Ask your question. You have one last chance." Ling Lan didn't look at Zhuge Jingming. She stared at the receiver, took out her right hand and pushed down the button that had lit up. The corner of her lips showed a hint of a smile, but it vanished instantly. "Don't waste any more time. Think carefully on what you really want to ask."

Zhuge Jingming took a deep breath and cleared all the chaotic emotions out of his head. Now he was still the amazing strategist Zhuge. He calmly asked, "I just want to know—why didn't you send out Qiao Ting? You should know clearly that without an ace operator defending it, your headquarters won't be safe and can possibly be lost."

Ling Lan looked at Zhuge Jingming with interest upon hearing his question. She slowly said, "If I didn't send out Qiao Ting, would Jiang Shaoyu have dared to lead battle teams himself to attack the headquarters of the First Men's Military Academy?"

These words surprised Zhuge Jingming. He sprang up, his expression changed, and he said, "You knew that Commander Jiang would attack the First Men's Military Academy's headquarters?"

"I also know that the reason you were trying to drag things out was to wait for Jiang Shaoyu to successfully take down our headquarters and eliminate us invaders. This way, not only does it eliminate us, but it also saves your own headquarters." Ling Lan's spoke out Zhuge Jingming's plan with one statement.

Zhuge Jingming could no longer keep his calm expression. He discovered that he had been stripped fully naked to stand before his opponent. All of his motives were completely transparent without anything covering them.

"Well, if that's the case, then why would you put on an act with me?" Since he already knew, why would he waste her time with him? Was it because he knew that Jiang Shaoyu wouldn't be able to take down his headquarters? What kind of trump card did the other have in order to be this calm?

Zhuge Jingming thought long and hard. A thought flashed through his head and he yelled, "Lin Xiao. It's Lin Xiao!" Yes, they could send allied forces to attack the opposition, then the First Men's Military Academy would also be able to ask for reinforcements from allied forces. He had actually forgotten about the other ace operator, Lin Xiao.

Zhuge Jingming was very frustrated. However, he quickly thought about the plan he made afterwards, the plan that even Jiang Shaoyu didn't know about. It was only meant as a safety precaution or a way to turn around the situation. As long as Jiang Shaoyu stopped Lin Xiao, they would definitely still have a chance. Zhuge Jingming's confidence returned a bit.

"You're waiting for Area G2 right?" Ling Lan's words made Zhuge Jingming's heart, which had managed to calm down, once again shake violently. He looked at Ling Lan dumbfounded with an expression of disbelief. Why, why would he know about the plan he made as a precaution? Area G2 was clearly hidden very well.

"It was a good plan," Ling Lan praised him softly.

Zhuge Jingming was indeed a great strategist. This time, both sides hadn't planned for their respective opponent's hidden killing move, so it counted as a tie. Ling Lan thought to herself that perhaps Li Lanfeng and Han Jijyun should go against Zhuge Jingming more in the future. With an opponent as strong as this, they would improve even quicker.

"You guys also planned something to go against Area G2 as well?" Zhuge Jingming asked, unwilling to give up. If it was like that, he would have lost more than he could lose.

"No, not really," Ling Lan replied honestly. A mistake was a mistake. Ling Lan wouldn't make excuses in order to hide it.

Zhuge Jingming was surprised. He quickly looked towards Ling Lan with a frown. He began to think what the opponent had actually used to go against his plan.

"Don't waste your time. I didn't do anything. The battle teams you arranged in Area G2 have indeed made a big mess out of my headquarters. My men are fighting a hard battle and practically half the members at headquarters are eliminated." Ling Lan told Zhuge Jingming the situation at her headquarters. Her tone sounded as though they were two very calm people who knew each very well, having a conversation about something that had nothing to do with them.

Ling Lan's demeanor made Zhuge Jingming feel extremely confused. If the situation was as he said, why was this person not the least bit worried?

"Now, things have reached the point where the members at headquarters have to fight a losing battle. Only under the pressure of life and death will they have an opportunity to evolve… No matter if it's the ones who are eliminated or the ones who are left, they all have a chance to grow stronger." Ling Lan spoke calmly, telling the other why she was cooperating with him to drag out the time.

"You actually used our men as sharpening stones for the First Men's Military Academy." Zhuge Jingming suddenly understood. What kind of commander would do this? This was so crazy. In order to have a chance to become stronger, he wouldn't care to bet the safety of his headquarters on the line. Did the first place of the Grand Mecha Tournament not attract him?

"I naturally want first place, but that isn't my only goal. I hope that those following me can all become stronger. This is what I can give them in return for their trust in me. And for me, this is the only thing I can give in return." Ling Lan's expression was sincere. As more and more people placed their trust in her, she was also trying her best to repay for this trust. Ling Lan couldn't just take and not give back.

"If you were to lose, even if you were berated by them, you would still give them enough time to become stronger?" Zhuge Jingming looked at Ling Lan as though he was looking at a crazed man. Only crazy people would use their pride and glory to let others have a chance to become stronger.

"One person standing at the peak will feel the cold bitterness of loneliness!" Ling Lan's expression became wispy. She didn't want to be the only person standing at the peak in the future, looking down below with a lonesome face. That wasn't something she needed. Thus, she didn't choose the Sovereign Dao, or the Holy Dao, and chose the Dominance Dao that she herself created. The path she took was actually the one that was in her heart.

Those who strategized did not need to speak too clearly. Zhuge Jingming had already understood the meaning of Ling Lan's words. His expression was very complicated. Finally, he sighed deeply and said, "I admire you! However, aren't you afraid that while speaking to me, your communicator would suddenly show the information that you guys have lost and are eliminated?"

Ling Lan glanced at Zhuge Jingming with a half-smile and replied, "Why should I be afraid?" After that, she pushed down the button that was lit up. "But to be honest, I am actually afraid…" If she didn't have Little Four surveying the whole area, she would naturally not have had the courage to waste time like this with Zhuge Jingming. She knew very well that antagonist boss characters all usually ended up with the tables being turned against because they spoke too much… Right now, she was like a f**king antagonist, Ling Lan thought to herself depressingly.

Seeing Ling Lan's action, Zhuge Jingming thought he was going to feel despair, frustration and pain. He didn't think that when he saw Ling Lan push down on the button, he actually let go. It was as though he was a prisoner on death row, waiting for the guillotine hanging above him. The waiting was torturous and painful. However, after the guillotine dropped, after knowing that he was cut down, he would then be set free.

Yes. Speaking with this person who seemed to have everything within his control had slowly broken down his confidence bit by bit. Before he could be totally defeated, he had gotten away from the other's clutches. He was lucky!

Area G13.

Coming as reinforcements, Li Yingjie and the others saw that Han Yu, Mu Shaoyu and Wu Jiong were all in the middle of tough battles.

At this time, mecha on both sides had fallen down to be eliminated. Overall, the opposition had lost more mecha. It was, of course, due to the fact that this time, the team that Ling Lan had led consisted of the logistics transport team along with Wu Jiong and Li Yingjie's mixed battle team, while the rest were all battle teams. The rest were the top special-class operators of the military academy's mecha team. Their capabilities were stronger than the mixture of the advanced and special level mecha battle teams. Even if it was 2 to 1, they would not lose right away. This allowed them to endure for a very long time.

However, as time went on, the situation was becoming less and less in the First Men's Military Academy's favor. Although the First Men's Military Academy had mecha operators with stronger capabilities, the number of enemy mecha was enough to compensate for this. Very soon, the situation took a turn for the worse. The mecha on the side of the First Men's Military Academy began to fall in increasing numbers.

Chapter 515 - Pressure!

Seeing that the situation was no longer looking good, Li Yingjie immediately ordered, "Sh*t. Advance forward. Keep the opponents occupied and relieve some pressure for our brothers." After saying this, Li Yingjie turned on the mirror beam shield. He turned his engine up to the highest setting and his mecha shot out like a cannonball, darting straight towards one of the mecha.

"AHH." The operators of the 15 oddly shaped transport mecha all screamed out angrily and followed their captain in pouncing on the enemy.

Although the operators of the logistics mecha team were all advanced mecha operators, they were neither impulsive nor blinded by anger. The opponents that they chose were also advanced mecha operators. While relieving pressure for their comrades, they also wanted to battle until the end of the battle royale at the same time.

With Li Yingjie's 15 mecha joining in, Wu Jiong, Han Yu, Mu Shaoyu and the others instantly felt their pressure decrease by a great deal. The two sides fought brutally. One side knew clearly that if they got through these people blockading them, the First Men's Military Academy's headquarters would be in the bag. The other side knew even more clearly that if they didn't block them off, they would all be eliminated once the headquarters was broken through. This was an ending that they could not accept.

It should be said that the people of the First Men's Military Academy were ready to risk everything. Although the transport mecha retained some power, it was undoubtedly not enough when compared to real battle mecha. It was necessary for the piloting skills of the mecha operators to compensate for this point; however, even an advanced mecha operator participating in the Grand Mecha Tournament would be among the most exceptional mecha operators. In the transport battle team that Li Yingjie had brought, other than Li Yingjie who could still go against an opponent, the others were somewhat all in a crisis.

Gao Jinyun was one of the team leaders of the Lingtian Mecha Clan's battle teams. Although his operating abilities weren't bad, if he weren't part of Lingtian Mecha Clan, he wouldn't have had a chance to become even a transport mecha operator.

When he find out that he had been enlisted as a mecha operator for the logistics and transport mecha team, he was undoubtedly very excited. He was very grateful to Ling Lan and rejoiced at the fact that before getting admitted to the academy, he had decisively followed Ling Lan on the battleship to take it down. That was the proudest and smartest decision he had made in his life; it had given him the opportunity he was having right now which everyone admired.

Gao Jinyun knew that his operating capabilities counted among the lowest group out of all the members that had come to participate in the battle royale; thus, every time he received a mission to transport supplies, he was very careful in not making a mistake and making Boss Lan look bad.

In reality, when Li Yingjie had ordered them to fight the enemy, Gao Jinyun knew of the outcome that awaited himself. The difference in mechas' capabilities between the two sides, in addition to the similar levels of mecha operators, they really didn't have any hope of winning… But even so, all the members, including Gao Jinyun, had decisively raised their beam sabers and pounced towards the opponents.

Everyone knew that in this time of crisis, only by giving their all would they then be able to protect their headquarters!

Once Gao Jinyun came face to face with his opponent, he knew the situation wasn't looking good for him. Although the other party was also operating an advanced mecha, his opponent's capabilities had without a doubt reached the peak of advanced mecha operators and only needed to progress a bit more to become a special-class operator. Against a mecha operator of this level, he wouldn't have a chance of winning even if he were to operate the best advanced mecha, not to mention the fact that the transport mecha he was operating had poor equipment and weapons.

It was just as he had predicted. After ten rounds of attacks, he was pressured from all sides, danger coming from every corner. Gao Jinyun felt that he might be struck down by the opponent in the next second.

"Ah!" A familiar voice screamed out in the commlink channel of the team. Gao Jinyun knew who it was; it was the leader of another team, Wu Fei, who also belonged to the Lingtian Mecha Clan. Recently, they had been moving together day and night, and had become very familiar with each other. Wu Fei, who was close to Gao Jinyun in operating skills, could hold on no longer and was successfully struck down by his opponent.

This made Gao Jinyun feel as though he was a fox mourning for the death of a hare. He thought to himself, "Will I also end up like that? Defeated and eliminated by my opponent?"

Right then, the image of Ling Lan coldly glaring at him appeared inside Gao Jinyun's mind. That cold glare was accompanied with a hint of regret and disappointment…

Gao Jinyun thought back to the excitement he had felt when he was called out by Boss Lan. The members of his team had prepared a special celebratory party to send him off after hearing this news and at that time, he had told his team members that he would definitely return the kindness that Boss Lan had shown him.

Was he going to return that kindness like this? How truly idiotic! Gao Jinyun stared ahead in anger, hating his weakness. He would not be defeated like this. Even if he were defeated, he would take his opponent down with him! Otherwise, how would he repay the trust and the chance Boss Lan had given him? He would stay loyal to the very end—he couldn't let Boss Lan down!

"Sh*t, even if I lose, I will take down the opponent with me. Self-destruct!" Gao Jinyun yelled angrily. He pulled on the mecha's engine throttle and using the fastest speed possible, he operated his mecha to ruthlessly crash into his foe.

Although transport mecha could not be compared with actual battle mecha in all aspects, they were stronger than battle mechas in one aspect; they could carry more supplies. These transport mecha were modified to resemble heavy tanks, which meant that the weight of these mecha was heavier by 2 to 3 times compared to battle mecha. Once they accelerated and crashed into something, the powerful force would make battle mecha back up and not dare to face them head-on.

As expected, Gao Jinyun's rushing movement made his opponent back off and dodge to the side. He was preparing for Gao Jinyun to use all of his strength and then attack.

Seeing this, Gao Jinyun's eyes lit up and knew this was his chance. He followed through and attacked the opponent furiously because Gao Jinyun knew clearly that once this chance passed, he wouldn't have any more.

The time passed by quickly. One decision could be a fate-changing decision. Gao Jinyun's opponent suddenly discovered that after he dodged backwards, he no longer held the advantage he had from the start. The one being pressured now was actually himself.

However, this mecha operator was an individual with plenty of experience. His emotions kept in check, he didn't worry but instead, he calmed himself and defended with all his might. Even though Gao Jinyun's attack was insane, he still managed to block it and didn't give Gao Jinyun any chances.

As expected, those participating in the Grand Mecha Tournament weren't there just for show! Gao Jinyun silently praised and admired the opponent's performance. He didn't realize that his operating speed had advanced beyond his original limit and entered the next level. This made him jump straight from middle-level in the advanced class to the peak. If he could successfully stabilize his advancement, he would definitely have a chance to break through into the level of special-class operator after one year. If he was lucky, he too would be able to join the ranks of special-class operators.

Gao Jinyun put all of his efforts into the fight. He only had one thought and that was to crash into the opponent. This was the only chance he had to win this battle.

"Bang!" A loud collision could be heard—Gao Jinyun had finally crashed into his opponent.

After Gao Jinyun crashed into him, the opponent's expression changed slightly. Although he had throttled his mecha's engine to its limit, he discovered that the full force from the opposition's crash made his mecha unable to fully take on such a large impact. Finally, after holding on for a few seconds, his mecha lost control and was knocked back with a great force.

"Sh*t! What's happening?" The mecha operator who lost control couldn't help but swear under his breath. It had seemed that the opposition's speed was clearly slow enough for him to dodge. Why did he make a mistake just now and fail to dodge the attack?

This mecha operator didn't expect that Gao Jinyun would improve during the battle; the latter's finger speed had broken through into a new level. This also made the mecha operator have a bad judgment call and was also the reason why he could dodge many times before but not this time.

Seeing that his opponent's mecha had lost control and was sent flying, Gao Jinyun was overjoyed. He didn't hesitate to lift up his beam saber and stab ruthlessly in his opponent's direction. The beam saber struck the chest area of the opponent.

"Bzzz!" The beam saber and the beam shield's violent collision created a slew of sparks, and the energy of the shield and saber began to deplete rapidly. The mecha whose energy was depleted last would be the victor.

The two mecha created a beam of light in the sky. Right when the beam saber was about to deplete into nothingness and Gao Jinyun felt hopeless, the force blocking his weapon suddenly instantly vanished, and the beam saber easily stabbed through into the opponent's mecha. A fleeting moment later, a force flicked his beam saber out of the mecha. Gao Jinyun knew that this was the support safeguard mechanism that the mecha were equipped with for the battle royale.

As expected, Gao Jinyun, whose beam saber was ejected, saw that his opponent's mecha was already falling to the ground from the sky. Gao Jinyun held onto his beam saber that was nearly depleted of energy and suddenly fell into a blank daze.

Did this mean that he had won?

It was a good thing that Gao Jinyun woke up from his trance quickly. He was still in the middle of a battle and couldn't afford to blank out for even a second.

After calming down, Gao Jinyun couldn't tell what victory tasted like. He quickly replaced the energy unit of the beam saber in his hand, feeling silently grateful to the logistics division at the same time.

It should be known that these energy units were found by the logistics members after expending a great amount of time. They had picked them out from among tens of thousands of energy units, and every one of these energy units all contained the theoretical peak amount of energy they could carry. It was because of this that he was able to have a bit more energy than his opponent and manage to endure until the end and acquire victory.

Details determined victory or loss! Gao Jinyun suddenly remembered that when Boss Lan was preparing the supplies, he had especially made sure of this point. Gao Jinyun was now full of confidence. With a Boss who even thought of the smallest details, how could they lose here?

Gao Jinyun was undoubtedly lucky. He had saved himself along with taking down his opponent, but his other team members weren't as lucky. However, the angry shout Gao Jinyun had made through the team's commlink had woken up many members that were under pressure and evoked their will to not give up. Since it was going to be a losing the battle, then they couldn't just lose without making something of it.

The members who clearly knew there was no hope chose to use a suicide attack in the end—self-destruct! (The self-destruct mechanism in the battle royale is just a simulation. Once they press down on the self-destruct button, the A.I. of two opposing mecha will simulate the real energy levels of a self-destruct attack based on the distance and angle between the two. The A.I. will then make the final call as to who won, and the result won't actually be that of a real gruesome self-destructing suicide.)

As one mecha after another among the logistics transport mecha chose to self-destruct, taking down 4 to 5 mecha operators from the opposing side, the members from the other battle teams were also moved by their actions. Even the logistics transport team performed so valiantly, so how could they, the real battle team members, lose to their comrades?

Thus, seeing that there were no more mecha that could fight, they all followed the transport team's footsteps. One after another, mecha dropped to the ground. Each mecha operator who was eliminated also took a trophy with them when they left in the end.

On the ground, Chang Xinyuan was leading nine modified mecha and watching the situation above Area G13.

He saw the mecha of familiar comrades drop one by one. Before dropping down, they ruthlessly held onto an opponent and pushed down the self-destruct button. Chang Xinyuan's blood boiled and he couldn't help but want to also go up there and fight. Even if he wasn't on the same level, he still wanted to be beside his comrades. Even if it was self-destructing, he would try to take one with him… He thought of the scene from before, of Boss Lan leading his battle team to fight against Qiao Ting's. His teammates had used this move back then to take down an ace operator.

The numbers of both sides were decreasing, but the opposition had two times their numbers, after all. Even if the First Men's Military Academy put forth all their efforts, they wouldn't be able to compensate for this difference.

"Captain, the situation is becoming increasingly disadvantageous," one of the members worriedly reminded Chang Xinyuan. Right then, there were only 13 mecha that were still fighting for the First Men's Military Academy, while the opposition had around 20. The opponents held a definite advantage in numbers.

"What you do you think we should do? We've already sent out those who can fight, aside from our team," Chang Xinyuan said with a sigh.

Even after being beaten up by Boss Lan, Chang Xinyuan had only successfully advanced to advanced mecha operator after the new year. However, only top-level special-class operators remained on the battlefield. Even if they were to help, it wouldn't make a difference for them. They would have to worry about whether they would make it harder for their comrades and disrupt them.

It seemed that they would have to study hard for mecha piloting in the future!

Chang Xinyuan once again felt the bitterness of being unable to do anything. In reality, Chang Xinyuan's growth was very quick. He had gone from middle-level mecha operator to middle-level advanced mecha operator in less than a year. Compared to his battle team, his rate of development was definitely comparable to those exceptional mecha operators, but he had ended up harboring a misconception only because Ling Lan's battle team was entirely made up of aberrants; he believed that he hadn't improved and was holding back the team.

Thus, after this Grand Mecha Tournament ended, two masochists would appear in Ling Lan's battle team. One would be Li Lanfeng, who wanted to become stronger, while the other would be Chang Xinyuan, who believed he was always the one holding everyone back.

However, the masochistic behavior of these two crazy individuals would also make the other members of the team feel a sense of danger; thus, they would create a new wave of studying and training, and Ling Lan's team would grow quickly as a group from the competitive atmosphere. This was why Ling Lan's team would be ahead of the other battle teams. This would all be explained in greater detail later.

Chang Xinyuan's question caused the other members to instantly become at a loss for words. Although they had modified their mecha to the point of being amazingly overpowered, their operating abilities could not be compared to that of those battle mecha operators. Thus, they could only watch with concern and yet not be able to do anything.

"Are we really going to just watch as these assholes take down our headquarters?" One member angrily smacked his head. He had always thought that researching modifications was enough. However now, he was regretting the fact that he didn't spend enough time practicing mecha piloting. If he had done so, he would have been able to fight side by side with his comrades at this moment…

Today's battle changed the mentality of these mechanics who were obsessed with research. After going back, they would train hard in operating skills and accidentally become the mechanics of the battlefield. It was also because they came to understand the concept of battle that they became able to invent countless strong weapons and modified mecha. This led to them becoming the mechanical masters of the Federation, and their inventions would make countless soldiers crazily pursue and admire them.

Chang Xinyuan silently looked at the sky in Area G13 and instantly pushed down on Han Jijyun's communication button. "Strategist Han, Area G13—we have 12 mecha and the enemy has 18 mecha!"

Hearing this information, Han Jijyun frowned. He was silent for a bit before replying, "I understand." After that, he said, "You guys return to headquarters." Chang Xinyuan and the others' mecha operating levels were not high, so they would be just handing themselves on a silver platter to the opponents if they joined the fray.

"We, the mechanics battle team, would like permission to fight!" Chang Xinyuan didn't take the order but instead gave his own request.

"No, your mission is to modify and not fight!" Han Jijyun didn't even think before rejecting him.

"When all of our battle members have been eliminated, what would be the use of leaving us mechanics here?" Chang Xinyuan asked emotionally. "Don't forget—although we're mechanics, we are also mecha operators!"

On the other side of the commlink, Han Jijyun didn't make a sound. A few seconds later, Han Jijyun deep voice was sent through. "I understand!"

"Captain, can we join the fight?" one mechanic asked with a tone of pleasant surprise.

Chang Xinyuan replied with a smile, "Yes! Strategist Han has allowed us to go to our 'death'." Chang Xinyuan spoke the truth. He was an advanced mecha operator, while some of his team members were worse than him and there was even one that was only a middle-level mecha operator. This operator was also the lowest level mecha from the First Men's Military Academy in the entire Grand Mecha Tournament.

"Haha, the First Men's Military Academy does not have cowards!" one member exclaimed excitedly.

"Although our capabilities are the worst, that doesn't mean we will really just watch or give up our lives." Chang Xinyuan passed on the plan that he had came up with to his team members. There was detailed data on the plan along with the trajectories and directions to use.

The others were all individuals who were used to looking at plans, so their eyes instantly lit up upon seeing it. One of them couldn't help but excitedly say, "Captain, you're amazing. You actually calculated these things. This way, we may actually have a chance to achieve something."

Chang Xinyuan's eyes were shining brightly. While he was watching the battle at Area G13, he hadn't been simply watching. He would definitely give an unforgettable beating to these opponents that had dared to attack their headquarters.

Area G17.

Lin Xiao and Jiang Shaoyu were in the midst of fighting, unable to break away from each other. They both knew that their battle was the most important part of this situation; they didn't dare to loosen up. Furthermore, their strength was on par with each other and they were familiar with each other's attacks as well. They couldn't do anything to each other in such a short amount of time.

However, the people that they had brought with them had already stopped battling. It wasn't because they had suddenly become friendly with each other, but because both sides had many people become more or less eliminated; only some mecha operators had managed to stay alive. They had all taken damage and could no longer do battle, only able to eye their respective opponents and wait patiently for their commanders to determine the victor.

Han Jijyun hung up Chang Xinyuan's call and his heart felt heavy. A moment ago, he couldn't help but agree to Chang Xinyuan's request; however, he knew clearly that Chang Xinyuan's team was going to their 'deaths'. He no longer had any more battle teams that he could use, and this made Han Jijyun feel like a housewife without rice to cook. Even if he had plans, he wouldn't be able to do anything.

"It would good if the Boss was here!" Han Jijyun, who was now on the verge of being broken by the pressure of losing the battle, couldn't help but think of Ling Lan.

Chapter 516 - Ascension!

The battle in Area G13 finally reached its end when Mu Shaoyu took down one special-class operator with a suicide attack. The whole of Area G13 was now a desolate wasteland; countless trees on the ground had been pulled up from their roots, and the fireballs that fell into them had accidentally set ablaze some easily flammable bushes. The smoke from the flames rose and engulfed the entirety of Area G13.

In the midst of the blaze, the scene of countless mecha dropping from the sky could be clearly seen. From a bird's-eye view, it seemed as though Area G13 was littered with mecha, and this showed just how brutal the battle had been.

There were only three special-class mechas hovering about in the air. When they looked at the countless mecha below them that were all eliminated, they were all silently happy that they weren't among them.

They didn't stop and quickly flew towards their destination, Area G17.

Right then, one mecha operator of the Second Men's Military Academy, who had been watching Lin Xiao and Jiang Shaoyu's battle, suddenly operated his mecha to fly towards the center of the headquarters.

This unprecedented scene surprised those who were watching them closely. Right when they were going to move their mecha to intercept, the Second Men's Military Academy and their allied battle teams crazily attacked them. Being intercepted, they could only watch as that mecha left their encirclement.

"In your dreams!" Lin Xiao, who was in a heated battle with Jiang Shaoyu, saw this scene and suddenly jumped backwards. He lifted up his beam gun and shot out a beam of light towards that mecha.

The beam quickly shot towards the backside of that mecha, but right then, another beam appeared to intercept Lin Xiao's attack in a timely manner.

"Jiang Shaoyu!" Lin Xiao yelled while biting his lip. If the First Men's Military Academy's headquarters was taken down, how could he face Ling Lan as an alliance member?

"The First Men's Military Academy has run out of soldiers. As long as I keep you here, no one will be able to save the First Men's Military Academy. Even though the three of you guys formed an alliance, the First Men's Military Academy still belongs to the Second Men's Military Academy. In the future, Lin Xiao, you should make sure to find better allies. Hahaha!" Jiang Shaoyu laughed hysterically. It was as though he had already seen himself walking up to the top of the victory stage.

Han Jijyun was very far away from the battlefield in Area G17 because his mecha's level was on the low side(advanced mecha). No matter if it was Lin Xiao's men or Jiang Shaoyu's men, they were all special-class operators. If he were to join the fray, he wouldn't be able to help and would have to worry about Jiang Shaoyu's men sneaking up on him.

At that moment, he saw one mecha from the Second Men's Military Academy come out of the encirclement. He didn't even think before darting towards it. He wanted to try to intercept the opponent so that the First Co-ed Military Academy could arrive in time.

Unfortunately, this mecha operator's goal was very clear; how could he let Han Jijyun slow him down? He performed a simple 360 degree turn and passed around Han Jijyun, while the latter watched as that mecha flew further and further away from him.

Han Jijyun wasn't going to give up. He bit his lip and gave chase. Lin Xiao's men had also come to chase but they were blocked off by Jiang Shaoyu's men. Now with one less mecha on Lin Xiao's side, Jiang Shaoyu's men could still block off Lin Xiao's men. This was the decision and plan thought out by Jiang Shaoyu after careful and detailed thinking. Now it looked like he had succeeded.

At that moment, in the center of the headquarters, Chang Xinyuan's team was almost done getting ready for battle.

"Captain, 3 mecha have reached the center area from the southwest direction! I'm certain they are attackers from the opposing alliance." The member who was responsible for surveying the air above them saw that three red dots appeared on the mecha's radar and immediately reported it to Chang Xinyuan.

Right when wanted to give an order, the patrol member yelled out, "Captain, another mecha has appeared from the southeast direction!"

"Zoom in and see if it's a friend or foe." The southeast was Jiang Shaoyu and Lin Xiao's battlefield.

The member immediately zoomed in and clearly saw the logo on the opponent's chest plate. "It's the Second Men's Military Academy!" Right when he said that, another member yelled out, "There's another mecha… it's Strategist Han's!"

Chang Xinyuan's expression was cold. "Looks like that mecha managed to get out of the encirclement. Sh*t. We'll ignore him for now. Our priority is to take down the three mecha from the southwest direction. All members, move out!" The attack he had planned could only be effective once; thus, Chang Xinyuan naturally chose to target the three special-class mechas.

"Yes, Captain!" Six mecha had been fiddling with their rocket launchers in the central area, but upon hearing Chang Xinyuan's orders, they all began to move about. They operated their mecha and moved to the locations drawn on the map. They set up the rocket launchers towards the sky according to the direction and angle written on the map.

At that moment, the member responsible for monitoring shed droplets of sweat which trickled down his forehead. Whether the attack would be effective or not would depend on the accuracy of his monitoring on the enemies' location and the timing of the attack.

"Coordinates: XX.XX. Prepare!" After seeing that the opponents had almost reached the coordinates of their attacks, he immediately gave an order.

The six mecha operators all held the trigger of the rocket launcherswith their finger, waiting for the last call to fire, at which they would pull on the trigger and fire the rockets they had prepared beforehand.

"Fire!" Seeing that the opponents had reached their attack coordinates, the monitoring member screamed out the call to attack. The six members decisively pulled down on the trigger…

Six rockets shot up into the sky and followed the trajectory and angle based on the plan. At that moment, the three mecha, unaware of all this, had entered the trajectory of these six rockets. It was as though the three mecha were willingly ramming into the rockets.

Right when the three mecha had reached the designated location, their mechas' A.I.s sounded a loud warning sound, "Dodge! Dodge! Dodge!"

Right when they wanted to operate their mecha to dodge the rockets, they discovered that they had nowhere to dodge to—the six rockets had blocked off all possible routes of evasion. In the blink of an eye, the six rockets hit the three mecha and exploded, making these mechas plummet into the ground head first.

"Yes!" Seeing that the attack was a success, everyone all screamed out in excitement.

"Dodge!" Chang Xinyuan screamed. It turned out that after their rockets attack was successful, the mecha coming from the southeast had sighted them and fired his beam gun.

Perhaps they had become too excited, or perhaps the opponent's attack was too sudden; two of their mecha were quickly shot down and eliminated. Chang Xinyuan quickly turned on the engine of his mecha and pounced in the opponent's direction…

Right when that mecha wanted to continue attacking, he saw another advanced mecha moving towards him with a death wish. He coldly snorted, didn't even dodge and moved his mecha away as that mecha was about to crash into him..

The outer shell of an advanced mecha was not comparable in toughness to that of a special-class mecha. It didn't matter whether the opponent dodged or not; the advantage was on his side, but it was just that he had miscalculated. Perhaps other advanced mecha were definitely less tough than special-class mecha, but Chang Xinyuan's mecha was different. In order to make sure of his safety during the battle, he had modified his mecha's outer shell to be as strong as a tortoise shell. Even if he bumped into a special-class mecha, Chang Xinyuan was confident that he wouldn't lose to the opponent.

It was this confidence that allowed Chang Xinyuan crash into the opponent without a care in the world. When they finally collided into each other, that special-class operator knew that his opponent really had a death wish and wanted to crash into him.

"Boom." A loud crash sounded out and the two mecha crashed into each other with great force! The special-class operator thought that the opposing mecha would be damaged greatly from this. However, he didn't expect that the opposing mecha didn't have a single scratch. Instead, after this crash, the originally damaged areas of his mecha had become more severe.

Seeing that crashing into him had an effect, Chang Xinyuan was overjoyed. Once again, he ruthlessly moved his mecha towards his opponent. Other than the tough outer shell of his mecha, Chang Xinyuan really didn't have any other way of intercepting this special-class operator.

Having learnt his lesson, the special-class operator wasn't going to fall for the same trick twice; he operated his mecha to dodge. The difference between advanced mecha and special-class mecha was put on display at this moment. Although Chang Xinyuan had used all he could to compensate for his speed, he was still slower by one level compared to the opponent.

"Bang!" A slash from a beam saber came from behind. The special-class operator was greatly surprised and immediately operated his mecha to dodge. Then he discovered that Han Jijyun, who had been following him from behind, had arrived…

"Strategist Han, let's team up and take him down." Chang Xinyuan saw that Han Jijyun had arrived and calmed down. Han Jijyun also had the same thought. Right when the two of them wanted to team up and take down the opponent, that special-class operator turned around and ran.

The special-class operator knew clearly that he couldn't be slowed down by the other party. He didn't know how long his commander would be able to slow down Lin Xiao and his men; he needed to quickly get to the center area of the First Men's Military Academy and take down the headquarters.

Han Jijyun and Chang Xinyuan saw their opponent had run away, and they knew clearly what he was thinking. The two of them set the speed of their mecha to the maximum and gave chase. They had to stop the opponent from getting what he wanted.

In the midst of this chase, something that surprised them happened. The special-class operator that was immediately about to reach the center location suddenly dropped toward the ground.

The two of them looked at each other, not knowing what had happened. They were afraid that it was a trap and carefully landed their mecha on the ground. Chang Xinyuan's was tougher, thus he went to examine the fallen mecha.

At the same time, the same thing happened where Lin Xiao was. The mecha of Jiang Shaoyu, who was fighting fiercely against him, dropped down…

"The mecha don't have any reaction on their battery. It's just like locked mechas that are eliminated," Chang Xinyuan said to Han Jijyun after examining it.

Han Jijyun thought long and hard and suddenly his eyes lit up. "Do you think that it's because Boss has already taken down the Second Men's Military Academy?"

Chang Xinyuan's eyes flickered. He quickly nodded and said, "That should be the reason. Otherwise, there's no other way to explain why the Second Men's Military Academy's mecha suddenly dropped down and was eliminated."

Right when they were in the middle of being overjoyed, Han Jijyun saws a short silhouette dart towards one of the tents in the center area.

"Sh*t!" Han Jijyun screamed out.

A mecha dropping didn't mean that the mecha operator had "died". He had actually forgotten to check the area. Han Jijyun quickly landed his mecha. The cockpit was opened abruptly and Han Jijyun darted into that tent with lightning speed.

Inside the tent, one mecha operator was standing in front of the receiver. He heard movement behind him and turned around. Seeing Han Jijyun, he immediately laughed and said, "I'm very lucky and you're late!"

The opponent had already pushed down the button and was waiting for the signal to fully cover up the original signal, after which the First Men's Military Academy's headquarters would become their trophy.

Han Jijyun felt his heart drop. He quickly pounced towards the opponent, throwing a punch. Although his physical skills were not comparable to Qi Long, Luo Lang and the others, he had successfully reached the beginner level of Qi-Jin after training with Boss…

The opponent decisively met his punch with a punch of his own. Boom! A large force almost collapsed the entire tent.

The opponent couldn't take the power that came from Han Jijyun and was knocked back by three steps and almost fell on the receiver. The opponent looked at Han Jijyun with fear. He didn't expect that someone as young as he had actually reached the level of Qi-Jin. This made it so that he, who had only gotten halfway to reaching the level of Qi-Jin, was unable to compare with Han Jijyun.

He quickly looked at the screen of the receiver and saw the information shown, his eyes now showing extreme happiness. It seemed that the signal covering the original signal had reached more than 90%. Even if he was defeated, Han Jijyun wouldn't be able to change the outcome of being eliminated.

Finally, the receiver showed that it was 100% complete. That person laughed hysterically and said, "Haha, we've broken through the First Men's Military Academy." The First Men's Military Academy that was on a pedestal had finally been eliminated by the alliance of these low-level military academies.

Han Jijyun was already beside him, he believed that Han Jijyun was eliminated and did not pose a threat to him; he didn't defend himself. But then he suddenly saw a silver line flash before his eyes. He turned around dumbfounded, and said with great difficulty, "You… you… broke the rules!"

After saying this, he became unconscious. It turned out that he was put to sleep by Han Jijyun's tranquilizer.

"I also hope that I have broken the rules. Unfortunately, in my communicator, I didn't receive a report of the First Men's Military Academy being eliminated," Han Jijyun walked towards that person and said softly. He lifted his head and looked at the receiver showing 100% completion and instantly fell into deep thought.

A few seconds later, Han Jijyun took off the receiver from the beacon that belonged to that special-class operator and put his own receiver on top. He pushed the button once again and covered up the opponent's signal once again. Quickly, the receiver reached 100% and Area G17 became the First Men's Military Academy's territory once again.

"It turns out Area G17 is no longer the headquarters." Han Jijyun's eyes showed a hint of confusion. He knew that this was something his boss had done, but he didn't know how he had done it.

In the monitoring room, they all thought that the First Men's Military Academy had been eliminated, but they discovered that the First Men's Military Academy was still in the game. Many of the officers were dumbfounded and screamed out, "How is this possible?"

Wasn't Area G17 the First Men's Military Academy's headquarters? Why were they not eliminated since the opponent had taken over it?

"Staff members, immediately search for the real location of the First Men's Military Academy's headquarters." Unable to explain the situation, these people naturally wanted to find out the answer.

After receiving the agreement of the person in charge of the Grand Mecha Tournament, the staff members finally began to search for the real headquarters of the First Men's Military Academy.

"It's here!" A few minutes later, the staff members finally found the location of the First Men's Military Academy's headquarters. "It's in Area Q9!"

"That's not possible. Area Q9 is the Second Men's Military Academy's headquarters. How could it be the First Men's Military Academy's?" After this answer was given, everyone in the monitoring room was in an uproar, showing expressions of disbelief.

Ling Xiao discovered that the First Men's Military Academy hadn't become eliminated after Area G17 had been taken, and then he had started to think about why. And upon hearing that their real headquarters was in Area Q9, he instantly came to a realization. "I see!"

"Lan'er! You managed to discover what I had missed before! You have surpassed me in this aspect! I'm proud of you!"