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Chapter 652 - Pleasing to the Eyes!

"Why aren't you following if you have time spouting pointless nonsense?" Li Lanfeng said coldly as he stood behind him.

Right as Li Yingjie was about to lash out at Li Lanfeng, he turned around and saw the cold and deadly glare from Li Lanfeng's eyes. Li Yingjie couldn't help but shudder and quickly ran up to Lin Zhong-qing.

Wuwuwu, Li Lanfeng definitely stayed with Boss Lan for too long. That was why he was affected by Boss Lan's terrifying aura. Otherwise, how could Li Yingjie be scared of someone who was not from the main family like Li Lanfeng.

Although Li Yingjie was impulsive and arrogant, his instincts were very keen. He knew his limits and knew who he could anger and who he couldn't. That was why he decisively gave up on being Ling Lan and Qi Long's enemy… That was why he was so pompous and arrogant for all 10 years at the Central Scout Academy and was not rivaled by anyone. That was also why he stopped being so pompous after entering the First Men's Military Academy and peacefully living out the rest of his time there as a student.

Just now, Li Yingjie felt that if he had lashed out at Li Lanfeng, Li Lanfeng's expression showed that he was actually going to kill him…

Seeing Li Yingjie leave, Li Lanfeng closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes once again, the coldness had completely disappeared and only warmth poured out from his eyes. He laughed without making a sound, rubbed his eyes and reminded himself softly, "Oh Li Lanfeng, Li Lanfeng, your patience seems to have thinned recently. You actually exposed your real thoughts to that idiot. That's not good…"

"What's wrong? You dislike Li Yingjie?" Zhao Jun asked softly from behind.

Lanfeng smiled and said, "No, not really, only a bit jealous. The stuff that we worked so hard to obtain, he was able to it get without lifting a finger. Even the captain is patient with him and tolerates his behaviour…"

Zhao Jun thought that Li Lanfeng was talking about how Li Yingjie was the third generation descendant to inherit the Li family. He nodded and said, "That's true. Some people are just born lucky… However, I think the reason our captain tolerates Li Yingjie is because he never actually considered Li Yingjie as one of us. That's why he doesn't really care."

"Isn't he one of us?" Li Lanfeng's expression fixed to the ground as though he was thinking deeply about something.

"Let's go, otherwise the Boss is going to be angry." Zhao Jun reminded.

"Okay. We joined in halfway and can't let Qi Long and the others leave us in the dust," replied Li Lanfeng.

Zhao Jun didn't say anything followed the others with Li Lanfeng. Zhao Jun knew that compared to Qi Long, they were still viewed differently. If time cannot compensate for the difference, then they can only use their hard work to receive more of Ling Lan's trust.

The staff members of Feiyang had already appeared at every corner of the corridors. They were leading the passengers from the recreational areas to their own rooms. After a while, everyone obediently returned to their rooms. Although the staff members didn't seem to be carrying any weapons on them, it was still clear that there were beam guns hidden under their clothes along with some daggers hidden in the side pockets of their pants. Once the staff members found any enemies hidden on the ship who were trying to create chaos, these staff members would mercilessly kill them in cold blood.

Additionally, it was also crucial that the enemies did not break them down from the inside. Feiyang's captain to the service members all knew that once the intergalactic space pirates took control of Feiyang, it would be definite death for all crew members. In order for the enemies to not leave any evidence of their attack, everyone on Feiyang must die.

Of course, not every passengers followed the directions to return to their rooms. Some people who were capable had remained in the atrium and prepared to help Feiyang fight this battle to defend the ship.

Ling Lan didn't go to the atrium. She led her team members into a corridor and arrived at the ship's emergency stairs.

Two tall and muscular staff members stood at the entrance of the staircase. Seeing Ling Lan's group arrive, the two staff members decisively pulled out their beam guns and pointed it towards Ling Lan's group, "Don't move."

Ling Lan and the others instantly stopped in their tracks.

"Who are you people? If you're passengers, please immediately return to your rooms," said one of the staff members.

Ling Lan glanced at them and put out her right hand. A thin, card like piece of paper appeared between her fingers.

"Toss that card over here." Suddenly a deep voice echoed from the back of the two staff members.

Ling Lan flicked her fingers and the card instantly shot behind the two staff members.

A huge hand suddenly appeared and grabbed that small card. That was when a 40 to 50 year-old man appeared. The killing intent pouring out of his body showed that he was not be messed with.

"I didn't think you guys are actually on the mission." After confirming the card, the man looked at Ling Lan's group and their innocent expressions. He couldn't help but sigh and at the same time toss the card back to Ling Lan.

"It seems that others had gone past here before us," said Ling Lan rhetorically.

"Indeed. You guys are the fourth group." The man laughed, "You're new recruits right? A bit lacking in experience."

Ling Lan only smiled and didn't answer. Could she actually say that she purposefully dragged out the time and came here late? Their appearances were too innocent and young-looking. If her group was actually the first ones to meet up with Feiyang's crew, it was possible that the crew would not trust them as the people on the mission. Ling Lan didn't want to waste time and effort explaining something like this. And now, with a few groups ahead of them, the staff members wouldn't be as cautious as they were before.

Knowing that Ling Lan's group was on the mission, the staff members did not block their path anymore. Ling Lan's group went all the way down the stairs to the first floor. When they passed the second floor, Ling Lan also discovered that there were guards in the corridors. After looking at Ling Lan's card, the staff members let them pass.

The first floor was divided into two large parts. One part was the rest area for the staff members of Feiyang. There were no passengers in that area and now not even a single staff member appeared in that area. It was probably because all of them had moved out to defend the ship.

The other area was the mechanical area. There was the ship's engine room, control room, captain's quarters, etc. It was the most important part of the cruise ship.

Ling Lan's group of six reached the entrance of the mechanical area. However, it wasn't the same as what they had previously thought. There were many staff members defending it and there was only one door. However, the six of them knew that this door was not a simple door. It was possible that even an explosive as strong as TNT wouldn't be able to destroy it.

Ling Lan walked to the door. She took out the card and scanned it at the scanner beside the door. After a clicking sound, the door opened automatically.

After the door opened, there were four armed individuals, all wearing protective vests with military grade beam guns in their hands. The four of them saw Ling Lan's group of six entering and they had already pointed their beam guns towards Ling Lan's group. If Ling Lan made any sudden movements, the four of them would mercilessly pull down on their trigger and shoot them.

Right then, Ling Lan calmly waved the card in her hand and calmly said, "23rd Division; Four-star battle team Lingtian; Ling Lan; Rank: Senior Captain."

Hearing Ling Lan's words, the four guards relaxed a bit. These four already had experience after having already greeted by three allied groups beforehand. After taking Ling Lan's card and confirming their identities, the four guards opened the door behind them.

Ling Lan's group of six walked in and another huge door appeared in front of them. There was actually quite a lot of doors in order to protect the most important part of the cruise ship. At that moment, the door behind them closed automatically. Ling Lan didn't panic. They had already gone through real life starship training and knew the standard procedures.

As expected, after the door behind them shut firmly, the door in front of them opened. The six of them felt that the gravity on their bodies had changed. Their bodies became much lighter.

Ling Lan hopped just a little bit and her entire body floated forward towards the direction of the large door.

After six of them passed the large door, the door closed firmly once again. Inside the door, an automatic conveyor belt appeared. Ling Lan grabbed onto the handrail on the side of the corridor and was automatically taken forwards.

Not long after, they had arrived at the cargo hold. It was actually where the starship kept mechas. After the doors of the cargo hold opened, the cargo hold could be seen. Staff members were busy arranging the positions of the mechas. The mechas in the cargo hold had already decreased. It seemed that during the time Ling Lan's group hurried to this location, many mechas had already left to fight the intergalactic space pirates.

Of course, there were still many mecha operators patiently sitting in their mechas and were waiting for the orders from the staff members. That was because the starship was modified into a cruise ship. The 24 ports used for ejecting mechas out of the starship only had eight that could be used. This caused the speed of which the mechas left to fight to be slower than normal.

One staff member looked at the optical supercomputer in his hands with sweat dripping down his face. When the optical supercomputer finished performing the checks for everything, the staff member immediately pulled out the cord connected to the mecha and shouted into his microphone, "B17, the check is complete. Please prepare to join the fight."

Right as the staff member finished, the mecha operator in mecha B17 heard the clear voice of the starship's holding area JMC, "Attention B17. Attention B17. You have been arranged to be ejected at port number four. Please get ready to join the fight."

Under the clear and crisp voice of the JMC, mecha B17, that was originally securely locked in its holding area, instantly unlocked from its place. The mechanism below the mecha automatically moved B17 to port number four.

The mecha operator of mecha B17 took a deep breath and pushed down a button to connect himself to the JMC at port number four, "B17 ready to take off! Request to join the fight!"

"After doing the final checks, B17's movements are normal, oxygen systems are normal, weapons and equipment are all standard. No issues with the final checks. Take off permission granted!" The JMC who was responsible for port number four made the final checks. After finding no issues, the JMC granted the request for take off.

After the JMC finished, the entire port along with the screen in the mecha began the countdown.

"3, 2, 1… Take off!"

"Whoosh!"

A loud take off sound rang throughout the hold. The port ejected the mecha into space. An intense intergalactic mecha battle was about to begin.

"Boss, where's our mechas?" Qi Long said passionately. He couldn't wait and wanted to immediately jump into his mecha and fight with the intergalactic pirates outside.

At that moment, the staff member who had just checked a mecha saw the six of them. He immediately shouted, "Are you mecha operators?"

"Yes," Ling Lan nodded.

Although the holding area was very noisy, the staff member still clearly heard Ling Lan's reply. Her voice seemed to ring right beside his ears, but the staff member didn't notice this detail since he was too busy. After knowing the six of them were mecha operators, he couldn't help but angrily point to his right and shouted, "Shouldn't you be going to the changing room to change into your operating gears? Are you guys planning on operating mechas just like that?"

Ling Lan didn't dare to say anymore. Since they were in the staff member's territory, they should just follow his arrangements. Thus, she led Qi Long and the others towards the place the staff member had pointed towards.

After entering the changing room, the six of them saw that 1st Division's Senior Colonel Meng, Meng Shangyuan, along with his team members from the Iron Curtain Battle Team had already finished changing and was about to leave the room.

"Senior Captain Ling. You guys are pretty quick." Senior Colonel Meng Shangyuan saw Ling Lan and nodded towards her.

"Senior Colonel Meng's reaction time is much faster. We are still a bit late and should learn from Elder Brothers like you," Ling Lan replied earnestly.

Hearing her reply, Senior Colonel Meng had a huge smile on his face and said, "Sure. We're leaving first. We'll contact each other in the future." After saying that, Meng Shangyuan waved his hand and lead his team members out of the changing room.

"It seems that they were at the auction that day as well." After walking out just a few steps away from the changing room, he suddenly remembered this detail.

The only reason Mu Youyun and Qian Jialin were able to return with their lives from the auction was because they were saved by a domain expert and his comrades. Meng Shangyuan had his own way of acquiring information and knew the truth that was covered up.

When Meng Shangyuan's group entered the changing room, they encountered Qian Jialin and Mu Youyun's groups leaving the room. Meng Shangyuan had tried to get some information from the two of them, but unfortunately their mouths were tightly sealed and wouldn't give out any hints. However, Meng Shangyuan still managed to confirm one thing from the calm yet stiff expressions on the two captains' faces. The confirmation was that the domain expert was definitely part of the Federation and was someone that they knew. It was just that they didn't dare to believe the facts and imagine who it might have been…

Who was it that could make those two sly foxes show an expression like that? The young and naive faces of Ling Lan's group appeared inside Meng Shangyuan's mind. He suddenly had a thought that it was possible that it was Ling Lan's group who were also at the auction.

Meng Shangyuan couldn't help but laugh at his ludicrous imagination. He shook his head and put the thought into the back of his mind. At that moment, Meng Shangyuan didn't know that his ludicrous imagination was actually the truth.

However, Meng Shangyuan shouldn't be blamed for not believing his imagination. In reality, anyone who didn't know the truth of the situation wouldn't connect a domain expert to Ling Lan. That was because Ling Lan was too young and was not recorded in the records of the Federation (The records of Federation had once again fooled someone).

Actually, Meng Shangyuan paid a lot of attention towards Ling Lan and felt good about him in general. In Meng Shangyuan's eyes, Ling Lan had the passion and hope of an over-achieving hot-blooded youngster. That was what Meng Shangyuan believed to be why Ling Lan had taken the heavy responsibility of being a captain of a four-star battle team.

Meng Shangyuan didn't know that Lingtian Battle Team was created by Ling Lan. He thought that Ling Lan inherited the position of captain from the previous captain.

In all mecha battle teams, when the captain applied to enter the ace mecha battle clan and was accepted, the captain would have to give up their position. The next captain only needed 80% of members agreeing to the appointment of his new position. Thus, even if he was a newbie, he would still be able to become a captain of a legendary battle team (Of course, this was all in theory).

Meng Shangyuan naturally believed that this was the case of how Ling Lan had become a captain.

However, if they couldn't maintain the necessary requirements for the battle team's star level, the star level of the team would decrease. And usually, new captains couldn't handle the other capable veteran members, especially the members who were ace operators. Not long after, the battle team would split internally due to not obeying their captain, ace operators leaving the battle team, etc. This would decrease the battle team's star level to three stars, two stars and even possibly one star.

Thus, not every new captain had the courage to take up the mantle and not every battle team had the courage to let a newbie take the position of captain.

In Meng Shangyuan's eyes, no matter if it was the previous captain of Lingtian or Ling Lan, they were both brave individuals. Even if in the end Ling Lan couldn't maintain the star level of the battle team, Meng Shangyuan wouldn't look down upon them because of this reason. Meng Shangyuan even decided that if Ling Lan required any help, he would be happy to lend a helping hand.

People were indeed connected by fate! Other than the 1st Division, there weren't many people that Meng admired because he was a general working directly under the First Marshal. And as luck would have it, Ling Lan had received Meng Shangyuan's admiration.

Chapter 653 - Come On, Let's Go!

There were operator suits readily prepared in the changing room. Ling Lan's group of six quickly changed into the operator suit that fit their body sizes.

The operator suit had anti-pressure and anti-shock functions. This suit was required to be worn by all mecha operators who were about to board a mecha.

However, if the situation was dire, this step could be omitted. However the results of that would be that the mecha operators who survived the ensuing battle would be severely injured. Great harm would be brought to the mecha operators if they battled without the protection of the operator suit and just relied on their flesh and bones.

Ling Lan's group of six ran back to the holding area and warmed up their bodies along the way. This way, their operating speed would not be affected by warming their bodies up first.

Every mecha had its own corresponding operator. Ling Lan and the others also had their own mechas. This was the arrangement from the very beginning.

Ling Lan took out the activation key that belonged to their mechas and scanned the key at the sensors in the holding area.

"Clink, clank, clunk…" Suddenly a flat metal wall in front of them suddenly rose up and showed a groove like area. Inside it, there was a well-made, epic-looking and massive mecha. Compared to the mechas outside, this mecha was more beautiful and detailed. One look would make anyone know that this mecha was on a completely different level compared to those outside.

Ling Lan knew that this mecha belonged to her. It was no wonder that after looking around, Ling Lan only saw mechas below special-class level. She was still thinking where Feiyang had hidden the mecha that belonged to her.

She didn't hesitate and walked to the feet of the mecha. At the same time, she pressed activation button on the mecha's key.

"Bam!"

The cockpit suddenly opened. Ling Lan put force into her feet and jumped into the air. After that, her foot stepped on the outer parts of the mecha. Using this force, she got into the cockpit in an instant. This was the result of Ling Lan showing restraint. Otherwise, Ling Lan didn't even need the extra step and would instantly fly into the cockpit.

"Clank!" The cockpit closed once again. Ling Lan activated the mecha that currently belonged to her. After finishing the mission, this mecha would be her very own ace mecha.

Ling Lan's ace mecha was a balanced mecha with standard equipments. At the start, Ling Lan did also consider whether or not she should choose a close combat mecha. However, when she saw that Qi Long and Zhao Jun not hesitating in choosing the close combat type mechas, and Li Yingjie also chose close combat, Ling Lan couldn't help but painfully give up on the thought.

In order to make sure they could cover long range fights, Ling Lan could only choose a balanced mecha. Additionally, with Li Lanfeng's balanced mecha and Lin Zhong-qing's long range mecha, their battle team's composition was balanced.

This outcome saddened Ling Lan a little bit. Why did her small team have this many violent individuals?!

At that moment, Ling Lan hadn't realized that the reason why there were so many violent individuals in her team was because of how violent of a captain she was herself. Wasn't there a saying of some sort where people would say 'Soldiers are the spitting images of their generals'? The few chances that Ling Lan had shown her close range abilities, her performances were quite ruthless. These performances stimulated her team members to become more ruthless. This stimulation made them greatly admire the merciless, unreasonable and powerful pressure close combat brought upon an opponent.

The activity in the holding area instantly alerted a staff member who had just finished inspecting a mecha. He didn't stop for a second and brought his optical supercomputer with him as he walked over to Ling Lan.

When he saw that the activated mecha was an ace mecha, he was about to shout in excitement. However, he realized that that would be a show of poor behavior, he quickly stopped his voice from coming out of his mouth. He looked around quickly and discovered that his comrades hadn't discovered the ace mecha. He then excitedly walked to this ace mecha that was activated.

"Serial number: L6-W1." Although the staff member tried his best to contain his excitement, but the first few words that he said showed a hint of excitement and nervousness. When he said the serial number of the mecha, his voice was trembling.

It couldn't be helped. Feiyang was once a military starship, but it was only a standard warship. The mechas that were paired with the warship only had special-class mechas as their highest level mechas. As a maintenance personnel who worked only on one warship for his entire life, he never thought he would one day be able to service an ace mecha. If he returned to the Federation alive, he will definitely brag about this fact to other maintenance personnel from other warships.

The dream of a mecha maintenance personnel, and his goal in life was to become a maintenance personnel exclusively for a single ace mecha.

"Yes!" Ling Lan's calm and collected voice made the staff member tremble. His originally excited and jumpy mood suddenly calmed down. As expected of an ace operator, just the sound of his voice was enough to calm a person down. The staff member showed an expression of admiration. In the eyes of a maintenance personnel like himself, ace operators were legendary individuals they looked up to.

"I will now begin the inspection…" The staff member instantly got into his role. He began to carefully examine the data of the mecha. His eyes fixated on the images shown on the optical supercomputer. he was afraid that he would miss something. The work that made him felt numb originally, now gave him immense pressure. He was afraid that he would miss something and in the end cause a regrettable outcome.

Sweat began to drip from the staff member's forehead. The inspection only lasted a short 10 seconds, but in these 10 seconds, he actually had sweat all over his body. His work clothes was also soaked in sweat.

"Serial number: L6-W1, check is complete! It is able to join the battle!" After examining that everything was fine, the staff member immediately pulled out the connecting wire, pulled down his microphone and shouted out that the inspection was complete.

At that moment, the staff member let out a sigh of relief. Also, he finally got to know what it felt like to be a maintenance personnel exclusively for one single ace mecha and the amount of pressure that he needed to endure. The staff member believed that if he continued doing this, he would definitely die young because of the immense pressure.

The mecha engineer made it seem as though his job was very simple as he only looked at some data details. However, his duties were not that easy. His job was the most important last line of defense in protecting mecha operators. Sometimes, when mechas were activated, the mecha wouldn't be able to detect hidden malfunctions. The optical supercomputer connected from the outside was like a bystander who could clearly see all the problems.

History had taught everyone that malfunctions of a mecha was even more terrifying than an enemy. Back then when mecha engineers were not valued, there would only be a single mecha engineer for a large team of mechas. Those smaller mecha teams did not even have a single mecha engineer.

The price these mecha teams paid were painful after they overlooked the importance of mecha engineers. Once, a starship fleet encountered an enemy fleet. A large scale battle would take place. Without enough mecha engineers on board doing emergency inspections, one of the mecha teams didn't have their mechas inspected and went into battle…

In the end, these mecha operators didn't die by the hands of their enemies, but rather by a virus that was hiding within the mecha's operating system. At the end of the battle, the entire mecha clan consisted of 380 people only had less than 10 people survive. The only reason these people were able to survive was because their mechas had just gotten the virus in their system. The virus didn't take effect yet. That was why these few mecha operators were able to survive the battle.

This painful truth made the Federation no longer be neglectful and looked down on the soldiers who were mecha engineers. Although the final investigation of the situation showed results that the mecha engineer on duty was partially responsible due to neglecting the odd behaviors of the mechas' operating systems, a tragedy like this perhaps wouldn't have happened if the mecha clan had more than just one mecha engineer.

The lesson learned from this bloodshed had made the Federation decisively increase the amount of mecha engineers. The Federation lowered the necessary requirements and also gave commoners chances to join the military.

Afterwards, there was one outstanding mecha engineer, who was following a certain general, had shown amazing skills in mecha repair during one of their missions. Before the reinforcements had arrived, the group had very little resources left and their mechas were also damaged beyond repair. This mecha engineer managed to extend the life of the mechas using the limited amount of resources they had. In the end, through this act, the group managed to hold out until reinforcements arrived.

After that general had climbed to the top of the military rankings, that mecha engineer became one of the higher-ups of the military as well and was given the rank of Major General. Just like that, a commoner, who did not have a strong physical constitution nor high intelligence, used his own skills in repair and observation to become a general that people admired. This was a real story about how a commoner became a part of history.

This individual made mecha engineer to instantly become a sought after job for commoners who were aiming to change their fate. Afterwards, becoming a mecha engineer became a popular choice in the military.

Even now with all the mecha engineers within the Federation, standard operators still couldn't have the luxury of having one engineer for their mecha. However, the number of engineers was still enough for one engineer for one group, one engineer for two special-class mechas and one engineer for one ace mecha. Only ace operator had their own mecha engineers.

The staff member who checked Ling Lan's L6-W1 reported to the holding area's JMC. In the next second, the JMC in the holding area connected with Ling Lan's communicator: "Attention L6-W1. Attention L6-W1. You have been arranged to be ejected out of port number three. Please prepare to join the battle."

After the JMC finished, Ling Lan's mecha was moved to port number three.

The JMC who was responsible for port number three saw that her work area had a new mecha that had arrived. So she immediately raised her head, then shouted with surprise, "Ah!"

Her voice startled the other JMCs beside her, "Little Qing, what's wrong?"

"Ace mecha. It's an ace mecha." The JMC called Little Qing pointed at the screen in front of her as she shouted.

Her words instantly excited the other JMCs. They all looked towards her direction. After seeing that it was indeed a Federation standard-issue balanced ace mecha, the other JMCs all joined in and screamed in excitement.

Their team leader saw them and immediately had a serious expression on her face, "This a war zone, why aren't you people at your posts?"

The JMCs knew they did something wrong. They didn't dare to make a sound and all went back to their posts.

"L6-W1 ready! Requesting to join the battle!" Ling Lan quickly examined the mecha and found that everything was ready. She then pushed down on the communication button to port number three's JMC.

"Yes, please wait for a moment!" This JMC's voice was trembling a bit, but it was still clear.

"Performing final checks. B17 movement normal. Oxygen system functioning normally. Weapons standard type. Checks completed, ejection permitted!"

"And I'm rooting for you!" The JMC from port number three suddenly added these few words. Although she couldn't see the appearance of the mecha operator who wore the helmet in her video feed, her heart still skipped a beat from the calm and collected gaze of the operator. She impulsively shouted out those words.

After saying those words, Little Qing woke up from her trance and her face became pale. She actually went against the rules regarding actions of the JMC. If this ace operator was to formally complain about her, she would definitely be expelled from the military. Little Qing seemed to have already begun to feel the mockery and disdain from those around her. Her eyes began to water, but she could only hold it in. Since she had done something wrong, then she must accept the result. Why should she be crying at this time?

Hearing the JMC's words, Ling Lan was stunned for a second. This was against the rules… Ling Lan raised her head and looked at the JMC's image on her mecha's screen. She saw that this JMC had an expression of terror along with the tears that were about to fall from her eyes. It seemed that she understood that she had made a mistake. Those words seemed to be said accidentally, not purposefully…

However, it didn't matter. This was the JMC's encouragement to Ling Lan. Ling Lan closed her eyes and politely replied, "Thank you!"

The cold and calm voice shot the word of thanks straight into Little Qing's ear. It was like the sound from heaven and almost made her faint. Ah ah ah, that operator didn't blame her and even thanked her. Little Qing felt she was very lucky. Her first time servicing an ace operator actually had her met such a reasonable person who didn't complain about her breaking the rules.

Since the operator was already so busy, she couldn't continue taking his time. Little Qing took a deep breath and sucked in her tears back into her eyes. Then she pushed down on the countdown button.

The port along with the mecha's screen began the countdown at the same time.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1… Take off!"

"Whoosh!" The mecha shot out through the tunnel. Simultaneously, the mecha's engine roared as the mecha moved through space like lightning.

Right as Little Qing had sent off the ace operator from her side, her comrades, the other JMCs, all screamed in excitement. It turns out that they had also received the individual they were going to service and they were all ace mechas. Ports one to four all had one ace operator appear and Little Qing received yet another ace operator. That meant that there were a total of five ace operators. This surprised all of the JMCs. Why would such a simple transport mission have five ace operators appear during the mission? What important mission did they accept? Since it was that important, why would the mission be given to a standard warship such as theirs?

The excitement of the girls from the appearance of five ace operators was all seen by the team leader. Her mature face showed a hint of concern. Only she knew that another group of JMCs at ports five to eight had serviced six ace operators long before this current group of JMCs.

Since there were 11 ace operators appearing at the same time, along with how their warship was modified in secret for an entire year, the team leader knew that the mission they had taken up was not any average mission. She only hoped that with the protection of these 11 ace operators, they would be able to complete the transport mission.

Chapter 654 - Style!

When Ling Lan was ejected into space, she saw many mechas fighting… there was also a huge flagship and two vanguard ships pursuing Feiyang. They were trying to stop it.

Li Lanfeng was right. The intergalactic pirates came with a flagship and two vanguard ships.

However, it would not be easy to stop the Feiyang Ship. Ling Lan saw three ace mechas nearby the two vanguard ships. If she was right, these three ace mechas were from the other four-star battle teams. She thought that only the captains of the battle teams were ace mecha masters but it seemed like there was another ace mecha master in one of the teams.

When Meng Shangyuan and his men were trying their best to stop the vanguard ships, they suddenly saw a few ace mechas coming to the battlefield. They were stunned. Those mechas looked like the mechas from the Federation.

They knew that besides the four-star battle teams, there were no other ace operators in the Feiyang Ship. If so, where did these five ace operators come from?

Meng Shangyuan suddenly remembered Ling Lan and her team. He was shocked. Were these people from Ling Lan's battle team?

The young faces of Ling Lan's team members appeared in Meng Shangyuan's mind. Their captain was also of a similar age. They must be recruits that just graduated from the military academy. If he was right, to become ace operators at such a young age, they must be elites of the elites. According to Meng Shangyuan's past experiences, such elites were arrogant and unwilling to bow down to people. How was Ling Lan able to lead this bunch of elites?

The Flying Dragon Special Forces? Meng Shangyuan thought about this. Only the Flying Dragon Special Forces was able to have so many young ace operators. However, the Flying Dragon Special Forces was the ultimate weapon of the Federation. They would never let their members join other divisions. But, why were these people in the 23rd Division?

Their information must be fake! Meng Shangyuan thought about their mission and their fake identities. He deduced the answer. In order to prevent other people from noticing them, the Flying Dragon Special Forces gave them fake identities. Compared to other developed divisions, the newly formed 23rd Division was the best division to use.

Meng Shangyuan and the others all thought that Ling Lan and her team members were from the Flying Dragon Special Forces. However, they didn't have time to ponder their thoughts. The vanguard ships were moving very quickly and were very agile. It was much bigger than their mechas too so in order to stop it, three mechas were not enough. They needed to focus all their attention to stop the vanguard ships.

Everyone was clear about their objective so they quickly pushed their doubts about Ling Lan and her team members to the back of their minds.

At this moment, on the flagship of the intergalactic pirates, the captain of the ship was looking at the screen angrily. He lifted a handsome golden-haired young man sitting beside him by his collar and yelled to his face furiously, "Was this what you meant by no resistance? Do you know how many ace mechas have appeared? Six…"

A person who was in charge of monitoring the battlefield turned to his captain in fear and shouted, "Captain, another five ace mechas appeared."

With 11 ace mechas, even four vanguard ships would not be able to subdue them. They needed to have more battleships or have the same amount of ace mechas as their opponents in order to defeat them. However, they didn't have either.

The captain almost vomited blood. "11?" He threw the golden-haired young man aside. He looked agitated as he said, "No, I can't let my babies die here. I need to leave immediately."

"Captain Gao Luji, you accepted a mission." The golden-haired young man didn't get angry even though he was treated badly by the captain. He frowned and tidied his clothes while reminding the captain with a hint of threat.

"So what? You gave me the wrong intel. Am I supposed to let my babies die because of your mistakes? In your dreams." Captain Gao Luji was not afraid of the threat. This was his territory. He would have the final say. If the young man kept talking, he didn't mind killing him.

Malicious intent flashed before the captain's eyes. They were intergalactic pirates who lived their lives on the brink of death every day. The word loyalty was not in their dictionary.

The golden-haired young man smiled at the captain. The captain felt a chill ran down his spine. He calmed down instantly. He suddenly remembered that the bodyguards of this young man were powerful. The other party never trusted him. The mecha operators were still sitting in their ace mechas. If he dared to make a move, his starship would be destroyed by those ace mechas, becoming dust in the universe.

After the golden-haired young man noticed that the captain had calmed down, he looked at the screen. Many images were displayed on the screen. Eleven images showed the 11 ace mechas on their opponent's side.

When he saw six ace operators, he felt that things were still within his control. Gulibaduo was not an extremely important character but the Federation would still send some ace operators to protect her. However, he didn't expect the Federation to place so much importance in Gulibaduo that they sent 11 ace operators to protect her.

"We predicted that there would be around four ace mechas on the other side. Our intel was wrong. However, don't worry. We will take care of those extra ace mechas." The young man thought for a moment and replied, "But, you will take care of the other four ace mechas. Don't tell me that you can't even do this."

The golden-haired young man looked at the captain with disdain. The captain didn't like how arrogant this young man was. However, he didn't want to offend him. He didn't know the real identity of this young man but from what the middle man had told him, this young man was a powerful person. His background must be really impressive in order to have six ace mecha masters as his bodyguards.

"Hmph. As long as you can destroy the five ace mechas that just appeared, we can subdue the other six mechas," The captain replied coldly.

"Fine. If you can't handle them, just tell me." The young man left the control room after finishing his sentence.

Two muscular men were guarding the door. When they saw the young man coming out of the control room, one of them asked, "Your Highness, do you have any orders?"

"Ask the bodyguards to prepare for a fight. I will go and destroy the mechas with them in a while," The young man replied calmly.

The muscular man's expression changed slightly. "Your Highness we can subdue the ace mechas ourselves. It is too dangerous outside. You should stay on the flagship…"

"I am not that weak! I am the only imperial member who became an ace operator at the age of 20 years old. How can I tarnish… cough… my kingdom's dignity?" The young man glared at the muscular man. He was angry that the man doubted him.

The muscular man quickly lowered his head when he saw the anger on the young man's face. "Yes, Your Highness . I am worrying too much." With six ace operators protecting him, His Highness would be fine. The muscular man thought about it and decided to let His Highness do what he wanted.

"L6-W2 calling for L6-W1."

"L6-W3 calling for L6-W1"

…

Ling Lan heard Qi Long and her other comrades calling her in their team channel. There were at different locations and with so many mechas fighting around them, it was hard for them to find Ling Lan. Hence, they decided to just call their boss.

"These are my coordinates." Ling Lan told her comrades her location. This was the first real mecha battle for Qi Long, Li Yingjie, and Lin Zhong-qing. Ling Lan believed in their ability but she still wanted to make sure that they were safe.

After receiving her coordinates, four ace mechas and a special-class mecha quickly moved towards Ling Lan's location.

Lin Zhong-qing was still a special-class operator. Although he was quite talented, he could not be compared to geniuses like Qi Long and Zhao Jun. However, Lin Zhong-qing had his advantages. Although his operation skills were not as good, he was precise. He would rarely make any mistakes. This was not an easy feat. Lin Zhong-qing was able to do this due to the teachings of his instructor, Tang Yu.

Instructor Tang Yu had the same innate talent as Lin Zhong-qing. His innate talent was not bad but not the most impressive too. However, he was able to become an elite ace operator at 30 years old and almost advanced to a peak-level ace mecha master at 40 years old due to his high precision.

Ling Lan fought with Instructor Tang Yu for many years and knew that with his strong foundation in mecha piloting and his high degree of precision, he would definitely become an imperial operator in 10 years. Based on his potential and innate talent, he should not be able to achieve this. But, he achieved this miracle by pouring in countless hours of hard work.

Lin Zhong-qing was heavily influenced by his instructor. Most people were tempted to advance to a higher level the moment they could but Lin Zhong-qing resisted the temptation. Every time he advanced, he would perfect his operation skills. Of course, Ling Lan's high expectations also helped him improved tremendously. Sometimes, Ling Lan felt that she could not be as precise as Lin Zhong-qing in terms of operations.

Ling Lan's operation was perfected through her many experiences and battles but she was not precise. Her operation was good because it was very smooth. Even if she made a mistake, people would think that it was part of her plan. She was able to think of different combinations based on different situations. This was why her operations were different every time. Overall, her precision was above average but not as perfect as Lin Zhong-qing.

No one could say which style was better among the two. Every mecha operator had their own styles and habits. The most important thing was to choose a suitable style for yourself. To Lin Zhong-qing, he was comfortable with such precise operations. There were lesser surprises but he would make no mistakes. This fitted Lin Zhong-qing's personality and his position in the team. The logisticians of the team needed to take care of various matters. There was no room for them to make any mistakes. Thus, Lin Zhong-qing started to have the habit of being precise in everything he does. This affected his mecha operation style.

The members of the Lingtian Battle Team had completely different styles from each other. Ling Lan's operation style was free and wild. She merged the methods of operation from two different galaxies. There was no fixed method for her. She would use whatever she felt was the most appropriate. Based on what her team members said, her operation style was weird and unpredictable.

Qi Long's operation style was simple and violent. As someone who respected true strength, his operation style was intimidating and oppressive. This had to do with his innate talent, which was Animal Instinct. Also, Qi Long had another amazing innate talent. Whenever his opponents thought that they had defeated him, Qi Long would always climb back up. In the end, his opponents would feel that fighting with him was like torture for them. He was like a cockroach that wouldn't die. It was too tiring to fight him. Most of the time, Ling Lan had to personally attack Qi Long and subdue him in order to save her friends from the torment.

Zhao Jun's style was direct. He liked to attack people head-on. If you think that this was his style, you are wrong. If he faced opponents that were weaker than him, he would use this style. If he faced opponents that were stronger than him… he was smart enough to sneak attacks on them. He would keep sneaking up on his opponents and pester them. He does not have any dignity and thus, would do anything to win the match. Ling Lan once said that Zhao Jun was an irritating opponent.

Li Lanfeng's health got better but at the start, due to his poor health, his style was sinister and eerie. He liked strategies and schemes too so his operations were hard to predict. In their battle team, no one wanted to spar with him. He was the second in rank in their list of opponents her team members wouldn't want to meet. The first in rank was Qi Long. Qi Long hurt them physically and mentally while Li Lanfeng purely destroyed them mentally. Every time they finished sparring with Li Lanfeng, they would feel their head hurting. They needed to use much brainpower to guess his next steps.

Luo Lang's style had a different style each time they fought. He had many personalities in his body so no one knew which personality was controlling him that day. Luckily, he couldn't change his personality casually so his team members just needed to interact with him more to identify the personality. Also, only a few personalities would change his style so her team members got used to it after a while. This was why Luo Lang was only the third in rank in terms of opponents they never wanted to meet.

As compared to these people, Han Jijyun's control was much weaker. He was still forming his own style but Ling Lan felt that he would have a more proper operation style. This had something to do with his personality. Although he liked schemes, he was a bland person.

Li Shiyu's mecha piloting skills were not bad too. The people from the Li family were all talented in mecha piloting. However, Li Shiyu's ambition was not in mecha operation so he didn't spend much time on it. Hence, he was still forming his style too.

Among the new members in the team, Han Xuya was the most talented. However, due to her physical constitution, it was hard for her to advance to an ace mecha master. She needed to put in a lot of effort and find the right opportunity. Han Xuya also knew that there were very few females who became ace mecha master so she was not in a hurry too. She listened to Ling Lan advice and focused on honing her foundation. She also remembered to practice the weird actions that Ling Lan had thought them.

As for Chang Xinyuan, he was the weakest in the team. When he finally managed to become an advanced mecha warrior, his friends already advanced to special-class operators. Some even became ace mecha masters. Chang Xinyuan gritted his teeth and told himself that he would continue to work hard to chase after them.

"Ahhhhh, why must I enter a battle team with so many geniuses?" Chang Xinyuan screamed towards the sky. No other mecha engineers managed to become an advanced mecha warrior at his age.

Overall, none of Ling Lan's team members disappointed her. This was why Ling Lan believed in them. As for Li Yingjie… was he considered part of her team? He was only a temporary member. Since he was just a temporary member, Ling Lan was too lazy to think about his style. She was a busy person. She didn't have the time to think about irrelevant people.

After Ling Lan's team members gathered together, they attacked the mechas around them under Ling Lan's command. The intergalactic pirates were violent and weren't afraid of death so they were not used to their fighting style. However, with the vicious Ling Lan leading them, they managed to get used to it after some time.

Li Lanfeng and Zhao Jun had experienced real battles before so they fought smoothly. Very soon, they managed to clear a huge amount of their opponent's mechas.

Chapter 655 - Your Highness, Move!

Ling Lan and her members' impressive show of skill caused the passengers on the Feiyang Ship and the other mecha operators to feel motivated. Just as everyone thought that the battle was about to end, seven mechas which looked different from the Federation's mecha flew out from the flagship. They seemed to be mechas from Caesar…

Currently, there were only two kinds of mechas. One of them was the Federation's mecha while the other was Caesar's mecha. The Federation's mechas were more agile and leaner while Caesar's mechas focused more on strength. Hence, they were bulkier. It was easy to differentiate them.

Although the different countries invented their own mechas, they were designed based on the mechas of these two countries. Such counterfeit mechas were weaker than the original products from these two countries.

Since this was the case, some countries decided to just buy the mechas from these two countries and not waste their resources to build their own mechas. The mechas that were sold were normally the older models but it was still stronger than those that were invented by other countries.

Of course, this was not the main point. The mechas that the intergalactic pirates used were low-quality mechas. Some were bought from Caesar. These intergalactic pirates roamed the galaxy and had no powerful backgrounds supporting them. Hence, it was not easy for them to get high-quality mechas.

However, the seven new mechas were striking because they were ace mechas from Caesar.

Normal commoners were not familiar with the mechas from other countries but the crew inside the Feiyang Ship were from the military. Hence, they knew everything about the mecha from their greatest rival, Caesar. They immediately recognized the mechas as the newest model that Caesar created. It was the main mecha of Caesar's military, their ace mecha.

These mechas were forbidden to be traded overseas. If intergalactic pirates managed to secretly obtain one, it was already a miracle. If seven of them appeared at the same time… wait, one of them seemed to be higher quality compared to the rest. It might an undisclosed mecha model from Caesar.

It was impossible for intergalactic pirates to get so many ace mechas. Either they were collaborating with Caesar or they were backed by Caesar.

Just as everyone was shocked by the seven mechas, 15 other mechas flew out of the flagship. These 15 mechas were all different but they still looked imposing. Five of them were ace mechas. It looked like a mecha from the Federation but slightly altered. It must be a newly invented mecha based on the Federation's mecha. The other 10 mechas were not ace mechas but there were also special class mechas that have been modified.

The opponent suddenly had 12 more mechas on their side. This was one more than on the side of Feiyang. The situation turned for the worse.

There were three different groups. The seven ace mechas were a group and they flew towards Ling Lan and her comrades. Three ace mechas rushed towards one of the vanguard ships. The other group of two ace mechas charged towards the other vanguard ship. There wanted to stop the three ace mechas who were attempting to stop the vanguard ships.

"This is bad. Looks like we need to kill the five ace mechas first." The crew on the Feiyang Ship turned pale when they saw seven ace mechas attacking their five ace mechas.

"Ah, it is L6-W1. I wonder if they are able to resist against the seven mechas." Little Qing clenched her fist worriedly as she watched the battle.

Ling Lan looked at the seven mechas which were rushing towards them and smiled coldly. Did they think that they were easy to bully?

Little Four suddenly shouted excitedly. "Boss, that mecha is the newest model from Caesar. We must snatch it." Little Four showed Ling Lan the images of one of the mecha.

If boss snatched this mecha and gave it to her father, she would be able to receive many military merits. Little Four's eyes lit up. He could almost imagine his boss rising up in ranks, from Senior Captain to Major.

Little Four was dissatisfied with the rank of his boss. How could his boss have a lower rank than the captains of the other battle teams? She should at least be a Major.

Ling Lan smiled. If Little Four was interested in the mecha, it must be a good mecha. She decided to take the mecha herself.

"L6-W2, L6-W3, L6-W5. Form a team and attack them straight on." Ling Lan immediately asked Zhao Jun, Qi Long, and Li Yingjie to form a close combat team.

"L6-W4 and L6-W6, follow me." Ling Lan brought Li Lanfeng and Lin Zhong-qing and entered the match from the side. This entire place was their battlefield. If they went into the blindspot of their opponent's mecha, they would be unable to spot them.

Because of the ongoing battles, the entire area was filled with heat. The radar and heat detector on the mecha couldn't work under these conditions. Ling Lan's objective was clear. She wanted to capture the mecha that Little Four was interested in.

The young man with golden hair was intending to attack Ling Lan and her friends. When he saw three ace close combat mechas rushing towards them, he gave a sinister smile. "I didn't expect you all to look for death yourself. Lieutenant Colonel Pu La, bring your men and surround them."

"Yes, Your Highness." Pu La brought his five of his men and charged towards the three mechas. Their opponents didn't group together. This was something he wished to see. If he could use this opportunity and destroy the three mechas, the two ace mechas left would not pose any threat. He would have a good time playing with them.

The three mechas on Ling Lan's side were all close combat mechas. When six of their opponents rushed at them, they didn't dodge and even increased their speed.

Did they think that they were able to defeat all six of them? This thought flashed passed Pu La's mind. However, this was a good opportunity for them. Pu La didn't want to give up.

"Long-range attacks. Get ready!" There were three long-range mechas, two close combat mechas, and one balanced mecha on Pu La's side. Since they had long-range mechas, Pu La decided to make use of them. They didn't want to initiate an unnecessary close combat fight with the mechas either.

The moment they entered the range for the long-range attacks, four mechas from Pu La's side started shooting immediately.

Four light beams flashed through the sky. Everyone on the Feiyang Ship and the flagship of the intergalactic pirates staring at them. They wanted to know the outcome of this match.

Everyone thought that even if the long-range attacks didn't hit the other party, it would still slow them down. However, they were stunned when the three mechas shown no signs of slowing down. They chose to dodge the beams and then increased their speed as they charged forward.

Following that, a few more beams shot at them. The mechas managed to evade all of them again. One of the mechas dodged the first beam but had difficulty evading the second one. However, when the beam was about to hit it, the mecha moved with a weird set of movements and the beam only scratched the surface of the mecha. A burnt mark was left.

"Was that Irregular Flicker?" The Irregular Flicker was a skill that all ace operators had to learn. Did that ace operator use this skill to dodge the second beam just now? Everyone was asking about the same thing.

Pu La was puzzled. Could Irregular Flicker be used like that?

Although the Irregular Flicker was a skill that all ace operators had to master, it was unable to let a mecha evade such a close attack. If it was him, he would choose to slow down and maneuver his mecha away.

However, if he had slowed down, their opponents would continue firing at them and he would be unable to dodge the next round of attack.

He didn't expect the other party to be so bold and increase their speed to evade that attack. It should be known that if there was a slight mistake in their controls, the beam would have hit the mecha and the mecha and its operator would have died.

Unfortunately, luck was on their opponent's side. That mecha managed to dodge the two beams. Pu La didn't know how the ace operator did it so he just thought that his opponent just got lucky.

"Impressive, Qi Long." Zhao Jun shouted happily when he saw Qi Long evading the attack. He thought that Qi Long would be hit.

"Amazing. This is the kind of battle that I want." Qi Long was filled with anticipation. Zhao Jun was speechless. How oblivious can this person get? Didn't he know that he might have died just now?

Just as Li Yingjie felt proud of his dodging skills, he saw Qi Long's movement. Li Yingjie's heart dropped. His face turned pale and he muttered to himself, "He is a lunatic. He must be a lunatic. He is definitely a lunatic…"

Li Yingjie's control slowed down due to his fear and he got left behind by Qi Long and Zhao Jun.

"No way. I am an elite of the elites. I can lose to Ling Lan as he is an anomaly. However, I cannot lose to that idiot Qi Long!" Li Yingjie glared to his front angrily and pulled down his engine throttle.

His engine roared and Li Yingjie's mecha shot out like a cannonball. He immediately caught up with Qi Long and Zhao Jun.

"Prepare to attack again!" Pu La gritted his teeth as he gave his order. Luckily, the two parties were quite far from each other so they had one last chance to use long-range attacks. Most of the time, before the close combat mechas were able to get near the long-range mechas, the long-range mechas would usually have three chances to shoot their opponents. However, this time, Pu La's opponents were lunatics who charged at them without any regard for their own life. Hence, they only had two chances to shoot at them.

Pu La didn't want to waste their last chance. Although he was confident that they would not lose in terms of close combat, it would still be advantageous for them to destroy one mecha using a long-range attack. If not, their long-range mechas would be useless.

"Attack!" Since their opponents were nearer this time, the two close combat mechas took out their beam guns too. Although their guns were not as powerful as the long-range mechas' guns, it could still confuse their opponent's judgment.

Six beams shot towards the three ace mechas. Two of the beams were not as powerful and could at most serve as a disturbance but it was difficult to differentiate between the beams.

"Qi Long, I will not lose to you." When he saw the two beams in front of him, Li Yingjie shouted suddenly and pulled down his throttle. His speed reached the maximum.

To everyone who was watching, Li Yingjie seemed to be giving up his life heroically.

Just as everyone thought that Li Yingjie was going to die, the two beams and Li Yingjie merged into a white light. No one could see what was happening within the white light.

A black dot suddenly appeared in the white light. The black dot got bigger and everyone finally saw what it was. It was a mecha.

Li Yingjie successfully dodged the two beams but he didn't escape unscathed. There were two long wounds at the side of his mecha. Smoke was rising from the wound. The wounds missed his cockpit by an inch so he was not in danger.

"Go and die!" Li Yingjie arrived in front of his opponent. He raised his giant sword and slashed it down.

"Boom!" The loud sound woke everyone up from their daze. The mecha that was attacked raised his sword immediately and the two swords clashed with each other.

The mecha that was attacked by Li Yingjie managed to defend itself but it still flew backward for a few hundred meters due to the rebound force of the attack. The mecha operator lost control of his mecha and bumped into the ruins floating around in space.

Two more clashes occurred. Everyone realized that while they were distracted by Li Yingjie, the other two mechas had also evaded the light beams and exchanged a blow with their opponent. Their opponents were also knocked a few hundred meters back.

Just as Pu La was going to order his men to attack together, a thought flashed past his mind. He turned back immediately and shouted towards His Highness who was watching them from the sidelines, "Your Highness, move!"

Chapter 656 - Ambush!

When the golden-haired young man heard the warning, he was stunned. At the same time, two light beams were shot towards him from his back.

The young man's expression changed. He moved his fingers over the control panel and the mecha did a Light-and-Shadow Skim. One of the beams flew passed the mecha.

The shield of the mecha dimmed. It seemed as though the mecha managed to dodge the attack but it was hit instead.

The golden-haired young man felt his stomach churning. Blood rushed up to his mouth. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He felt fortunate that the beam didn't hit him directly but only scratched his mecha. If not, his injury might have been worse.

The captain heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that His Highness had evaded the attack. At the same time, he was furious. He immediately gave an order. "Ji Lu, Rui En, find and kill the person who ambushed His Highness."

When the other party attacked, they exposed their location.

Two mechas who were shooting Qi Long, Zhao Jun, and Li Yingjie instantly change their targets and started aiming at the two mechas who attacked His Highness.

Two beams shot towards two huge ruins floating around space. If they wanted to aim their opponents, they needed to clear the ruins around them first.

The ruins exploded into small pieces. The two mechas dodged among the ruins in the universe.

There was one ace mecha and one special-class mecha.

"This is not right. Shouldn't there be two ace mechas? Where is the other ace mecha?" The captain looked at the special-class mecha in disbelief. He expected there to be two ace mechas that ambushed His Highness.

"Oh no!" The captain thought about something. His expression changed. Before he could say anything, a powerful beam flashed passed his eyes. It split space into two.

"Boom!" The cockpit of the golden-haired young man's mecha got hit. A huge explosion occurred.

The captain was stunned by what he saw. The three mecha operators who were fighting with Qi Qi Long, Zhao Jun, and Li Yingjie slowed down a little too.

Mistakes were not allowed in battles between ace mecha masters. People who were able to become ace mecha masters had good control skills and knew how to grab opportunities. They would not give up any opportunity to kill their opponents.

Under the torturous training of Ling Lan, Qi Long, Zhao Jun, and Li Yingjie were all amazing ace operators. There were significantly stronger than most ace operators so when they saw their opponents slowed down, they grabbed the opportunity immediately.

All three of them aimed their swords at their opponents and threw it at their distracted enemies. After gaining an advantage, they continued attacking furiously. If someone observed them carefully, they would be able to see that they were using the most powerful close combat skill, the mecha chain combo.

However, their captain couldn't be bothered about them now. He operated his mecha and rushed towards the golden-haired young man's mecha. He hoped that the young man was still alive. If not, they would be executed even if they went back.

The reality was cruel. The burnt and dented cockpit told the captain that His Highness most likely didn't survive. His eyes turned red as he screamed in anguish, "I will kill all of you."

The furious captain took out his mega cannon from the back of his mecha and pulled its trigger instantly.

"Boom!"

A huge force came from the cannon. All the mechas within a hundred meters noticed an error in their systems. One of the mecha operators saw the cannon and got worried. "Magnetic burst energy."

Magnetic burst energy could destroy anything within a certain range. All the defensive system in a mecha were useless against it, including their shields. No mecha could survive if they got directly hit by the magnetic burst energy bullet. Even if they were not hit, mechas within a certain range would be sucked towards the bullet and get destroyed by it.

The magnetic energy could not be evaded like a beam shot. Mechas had to get out of its magnetic range in order to be safe. This was the frightening point of the magnetic burst energy. Ordinary mecha operators were not able to instantly fly out of the magnetic range. Magnetic burst bullets meant certain death to them.

The people on the Feiyang Ship, including Meng Shangyuan, Mu Youyun, and Qian Jialin were astounded. They thought that the ace operator would not escape.

However, the past does not represent the future. If no one managed to do it before, it didn't mean that no one could do it in the future.

When her opponent took out the cannon, Ling Lan felt a strong sense of danger. She immediately controlled her mecha and flew away.

Before the magnetic burst bullet was shot, Little Four encrypted the data about the weapon and showed Ling Lan the range of the magnetic field.

"This speed is too slow. I need to increase my speed." Ling Lan's fingers disappeared on the control panel. The engine of her mecha roared loudly and operated above its limit. She reached its maximum speed.

When the magnetic burst shot was fired, Ling Lan felt an energy sucking her mecha back. Her mecha slowed down a little.

Ling Lan turned back decisively and raised the beam gun in the mecha's right hand. She aimed at the magnetic storm and fired a shot.

"Boom!"

The magnetic storm exploded. Huge magnetic energy was released into space. The mechas from the Feiyang Ship and the intergalactic pirates stopped fighting and immediately controlled their mechas to move away from the center of the attack. They didn't want to die in the magnetic storm.

"F**k. The ace operator is a lunatic!" The mecha operators that managed to escaped, cursed Ling Lan. They calmed down their palpitating heart.

Because of this shot, the suction on Ling Lan's mecha disappeared. Ling Lan activated her secondary engine and her mecha flew out like a beam of light.

Ling Lan knew that she only had a split second to make a decision. If she didn't manage to get out of the magnetic field, she would still be sucked back. If she didn't fire that shot, her engine would be unable to withstand the pressure and she would die. Hence, she decided to fire that shot and use the instant when the explosion occurred to escape. The force from the explosion would off-set the suction from the magnetic storm.

Time was not on her side. Ling Lan would die if she couldn't escape within that split second. But, how could Ling Lan miss this opportunity? Without a doubt, she managed to escape.

Ling Lan stopped only after she confirmed that she was out of the magnetic field. She looked back. There used to be many ruins floating around but they were gone now. All the ruins within a kilometer had disappeared.

The captain was furious when he saw his opponent escaping from the magnetic burst shot. He gritted his teeth and threw the cannon away. He controlled his mecha and rushed towards his opponent.

The magnetic burst shot was extremely powerful but it could only be used once.

Ling Lan was a little frightened. She didn't expect Caesar's newest model mecha to be present. Even their magnetic burst cannon appeared. This was a weapon that was extremely expensive and couldn't be mass produced. She almost died there. Seemed like she shouldn't underestimate her opponents. No matter how ordinary they looked, they might be able to kill you.

Ling Lan thought about the newest model mecha and scanned her surroundings. The mecha was still floating in the air. It was not within the magnetic field so it remained unscathed. Ling Lan heaved a sigh of relief. Little Four rarely wanted something. She hoped that she could fulfill his wish.

The captain had reached the halfway mark when he felt a sense of danger. He immediately operated his mecha and dodged to the side. A beam flashed past his mecha.

"Despicable people from the Federation." The captain glared at the mecha that sneak attacked him. Besides ambushing, what else can they do?

That ace mecha failed its first attack and continued firing more shots without any hesitation. The captain didn't have a chance to get near Ling Lan at all. By now, the captain knew his opponent's motive. They didn't want him to get near the ace mecha His Highness had operated.

"I will kill you and then, I will take revenge for His Highness." The captain knew that if he didn't kill that mecha, he would not be able to close in on his enemies. He rushed towards the ace mecha that ambushed him.

The ace operator saw the captain charging towards him and chose to stop shooting. He took out a sword from the back of his mecha and rushed towards his opponent. He wanted to start a close-range fight with him.

"You are looking for death!" How dare a balanced mecha fight with a close combat mecha in close range. This was a good chance for him. He would kill this balanced mecha and destroy the other balanced mecha later.

Ji Lu and Rui En regained their senses at that moment. Rui En continued firing shots at the special-class mecha while Ji Lu raised his gun and aimed it at the balanced mecha which was flying towards their captain. This balanced mecha was the one who was fighting against him just now.

Before he could fire his shot, an alarm sounded in his cockpit. He was locked in. Immediately, he moved his mecha and tried to evade the attack. However, he realized that no beam was shot at him. What happened?

Chapter 657 - Grievance!

Ji Lu displayed his surroundings on the screens in his cockpit. He noticed that the balanced mecha who sneak attacked His Highness was aiming his beam gun at him. The alarm inside his cockpit rang because he was locked in.

However, why didn't he shoot? Was there no energy left in the beam gun? Ji Lu raised his beam gun decisively after he thought about it and aimed it at the balanced mecha who was fighting against his captain.

"Boom!" Before he managed to pull the trigger, a beam came down from the sky. Ji Lu continued to remain vigilant so when he noticed that ace mecha firing at him, he immediately evaded the attack.

He barely managed to dodge the beam. Ji Lu was dumbfounded. His opponent continued aiming the beam gun at him but didn't fire. His opponent was threatening him to stay at the side obediently. If not, he would be shot.

This is humiliation! Ji Lu almost exploded in anger. He raised him beam gun and shot at the balanced mecha.

The balanced mecha didn't evade the beam. Instead, it fired a beam too.

"Boom!" The two beams collided in the air and exploded into a ball of light. Then, the light disappeared.

Ji Lu was furious. If his opponent was only warning him just now, this move was to tell him that he was weaker than him. It seemed easy to intercept someone's beam but in actual fact, it was extremely difficult. The person needed to calculate the speed and trajectory of the beam. A slight miscalculation would result in failure.

Ji Lu started to feel afraid. He knew that the ace operator was much stronger than him. He specialized in long-range attacks but in front of this person, his specialty was like a child playing with toy guns. All his actions were within his opponent's prediction.

Ji Lu knew that it was useless to keep attacking. It would be better for him to listen to his opponent and get a hold of his current situation. Of course, he was prepared to restrain his opponent if his captain managed to gain the upper hand. Once his captain defeated his opponent, he would be able to help him destroy this ace mecha.

At this moment, Ji Lu still had confidence in his captain. He felt that his captain was the strongest.

Actually, his captain was not in a good situation either. When the captain exchanged blows with his opponent, he realized that the operator operating this balanced mecha was not weak in his close combat skills.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" The captain continued attacking confidently. His opponent defended against his attacks easily. The captain got serious. His mecha was a strength-based mecha. Even close combat mechas from the Federation could not be compared to it, much less a balanced mecha. He thought that he could crush his opponent using pure strength but he failed.

Li Lanfeng swallowed the blood that gushed up his mouth. Continuous attacks caused him to suffer some internal injuries. However, his eyes were full of energy. It was different from his usual dark expression.

His body last time would be unable to withstand such huge impacts. He would probably be heavily injured by now. However, he only had some slight internal injuries. This meant that his body got stronger. It was still weaker than those monsters like Qi Long and Zhao Jun but compared to Han Jijyun and Lin Zhong-qing, he was around the same level.

He was no longer the son of the Li family who got dragged down by his weak body. His elders would no longer need to feel pity for him. He could control his own destiny!

Li Lanfeng shouted in anger. He seemed to have released all the pent-up emotions in his heart when he shouted. He moved his fingers swiftly and the mecha raised its sword up high. It slashed towards the close combat mecha forcefully.

"Bang!" The two swords collided and sparks flew. The strong impact caused the two mechas to fly back. They immediately had more than a hundred meter distance between them.

Li Lanfeng took out the short-range beam gun from the mecha's waist and aimed a few shots at his opponent.

"Despicable!" Ji Lu couldn't hold back any longer. He raised his beam gun and aimed it at Li Lanfeng's mecha. When he was ready to pull the trigger, a beam hit his arm.

His right arm exploded. His mecha's right arm became junk in the universe, floating in space.

Ji Lu looked at the other side furiously. The balanced mecha waved the beam gun in its hands. It seemed to be telling him that since he violated the agreement between them, he was punished.

Ji Lu never felt so aggrieved after he became an ace operator. He went through many wars. Even if he was at a disadvantage, he was able to survive due to his strong perseverance. However, this time, his opponent made him feel like a child that just started learning how to walk. Everything was under his opponent's control.

Ji Lu knew how impressive that attack was. His alarm didn't go off. It came without any warning. That was not something a normal ace mecha master could do. Ji Lu felt agitated. Could his captain really defeat such a powerful opponent?

The captain didn't expect Li Lanfeng to use his short-range beam guns. He was caught off guard. He hurriedly operated his mecha and tried to evade the beams.

A light flashed past him. The captain was an experienced ace mecha master. He instantly moved his mecha. The beam saber sliced the air next to his mecha's shoulder. When Li Lanfeng fired the shot, he flew towards the captain quickly and took the chance to sneak attack him when he was dodging the beams.

The captain was not used to the way Li Lanfeng attacked. He would fight with his beam saber and have a close-range fight with the captain. However, during this time, he would look for an opportunity to sneak in an attack. Caesar's mecha operators had a simple battle style. Such complicated battle styles confused them.

Ace mecha masters in every country had their own unique style. In general, Caesar respected pure strength. Defeating their opponent with pure strength was a simple style but combining this style with the huge sized mechas that Caesar produced, Caesar had an advantage in close combat compared to other countries' mechas.

However, this pursuit of strength caused Caesar's operators to have a simple operation style. Compared to them, the mecha operators from the Federation had a more diverse style. Based on the different abilities of each mecha, various operation styles could be formed. No matter what style the operator had, the capability of the mecha operator determined everything. If the mecha operator was strong, he would win against his opponent.

Since the captain and Li Lanfeng's capabilities were on par with each other, Li Lanfeng's operation style allowed him to gain an advantage over his opponent. Just as the captain was thinking of a way out of his plight, his three team members couldn't hold on any longer.

Chapter 658 - Despicable!

"Ah!" A miserable cry came from one of the mechas.

Qi Long's operation style was similar to Caesar's style. Although his opponent operated a close combat mecha from Caesar, he was unable to retaliate when Qi Long attacked him with a similar battle style. After experiencing some heavy blows, Qi Long's opponent didn't manage to defend against the last attack. Qi Long's sword slashed his opponent's mecha.

The impact heavily injured the mecha operator in the cockpit. He couldn't help but scream.

The team channel in every team's mecha was linked. When the other people heard the scream, especially the two mecha operators who were in a battle, started to feel agitated. They were already on the losing end so the moment they lost control of their emotions, Zhao Jun and Li Yingjie saw an opening.

Two loud collisions occurred simultaneously. Zhao Jun and Li Yingjie struck their opponents together. Zhao Jun even managed to chop his opponent's right arm off. His opponent was crippled.

The captain woke up from daze when he heard the screams. He saw three of his team members going down and was bewildered. "What is happening? Who are our opponents? Why are they so strong?"

Although his team was not the strongest ace mecha battle team in his country, they were definitely not weak. They were bodyguards of the royal family. However, in front of these five ace mechas, they couldn't even put up any resistance.

The captain noticed his team member who was fighting with the special-class mecha from the corner of his eyes. After battling for so long, his team member didn't gain any advantages at all. His team member was an ace mecha master but the opponent was just a special-class operator.

The captain started suspecting whether these people suppressed their levels. The ace operators were actually imperial operators while the special-class operator was an ace operator.

I will die if I stay here any longer! He wanted to take revenge for His Highness, but he didn't want his team members to die here. They might not survive even if they went back but he knew that if they continued fighting, they would definitely all get killed. They could have a chance to live if they retreat now.

"Retreat!" The captain yelled out his command immediately to his team members.

The three ace mecha operators had already lost their confidence during the fight. Hence, when they heard the command, they immediately maximized their engine output and retreated towards their spaceship.

"You want to run away?" How could Zhao Jun, Qi Long, and Li Yingjie let their opponents run away? Qi Long threw his sword at his opponent decisively. The sword flew towards his opponent's cockpit like a flash of light.

"Beep. Danger…" The optical supercomputer on the mecha only managed to say this before the sword appeared in front of him.

Qi Long's opponent thought that he could escape since he was flying away at full speed. He didn't expect Qi Long to use such a barbaric method. By the time he realized it, it was too late. He tried to evade the sword but it still pierced through his cockpit mercilessly. He died on the spot.

Zhao Jun didn't throw his sword out. He used an [A] rank technique, the Whirlwind Strike. The Whirlwind Strike was a [B] rank technique but Zhao Jun modified the Whirlwind Strike. He merged the technique with his operation style, causing the Whirlwind Strike to be upgraded. His Whirlwind Strike was recognized as his personal technique, the True Whirlwind Strike.

Zhao Jun knew other techniques too but compared to his other techniques, the True Whirlwind Strike was much simpler to operate. It didn't need any preparations and he could just use it almost immediately.

The Whirlwind Strike used the wind created by the sword to attack the opponent. It didn't provide as much damage as a normal sword attack but the opponent would lose control of his mecha and be blown away.

This was what Zhao Jun wanted. He rushed forward in an instant.

He slashed his sword and stabbed it into the cockpit of his opponent's mecha. His deceased opponent would remain in space forever.

Li Yingjie was the least experienced so he immediately chased after his opponent when his opponent started running away. Two mechas could be seen flying at full speed in space.

After the captain gave his command, he turned his direction and quickly retreated. Li Lanfeng didn't expect his opponent to run away from the battle suddenly. He was caught off guard and let the captain get out of his range.

However, Li Lanfeng regained his senses quickly. He raised the beam gun in his left hand and aimed it at his opponent. He fired multiple shots at his opponent. Instead of shooting at one single spot, Li Lanfeng shot horizontally. The beams formed a net around his opponent. Then, he took out his high-efficiency beam gun with his right hand and aimed it at the net of beams.

The high-efficiency beam bullet passed through the net of beams. A few sparks were formed. Then, a huge explosion occurred in the middle of the net. It lit up the dark space for an instant.

The captain felt a huge force coming towards his mecha. He maximized the power on his shield and pushed his throttle further. His engine was operating past its limits now.

Bang! The captain felt a huge force. His chest was in excruciating pain. He vomited blood and almost fainted. He knew this was a crucial moment for him so he bit his tongue. The pain woke him up.

However, despite being injured, his mecha was blown a thousand meters away. He escaped from Li Lanfeng for now.

The mecha operator who was fighting with Ling Lan, no, who got entirely controlled by Ling Lan and the one who was battling with Lin Zhong-qing also received the same order from their captain.

Lin Zhong-qing's opponent was lucky. He was further away from Lin Zhong-qing and his opponent was not an ace mecha master. Hence, when he ran away, Lin Zhong-qing was unable to catch up to him.

Thus, he escaped. Lin Zhong-qing could only wave his beam gun in anger.

However, Ling Lan's opponent was not so lucky. While he was running away, Ling Lan kept shooting at him. He tried to best to dodge the beams. After evading three beams, he got hit in the cockpit by the fourth one. He died too.

Three mechas were escaping in front of her. Ling Lan instantly raised her sniper rifle and aimed it at the captain.

Aim, lock, calculate… this is where he will be.

Ling Lan calculated her trajectory of attack and pulled her trigger.

"Beep. You are locked in. Danger!" The optical supercomputer reminded the captain. He used many techniques to dodge the attack but the warning didn't stop. This meant that his opponent had predicted all of his moves.

The captain was on the verge of collapsing. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead. For the first time, he felt that he was on the verge of death. Was there no chance of surviving?

No, he didn't want to die! The captain's eyes turned cold. He moved his fingers quickly and started calculating his opponent's actions too.

"Rui En, go to (XX,XX)!" The captain suddenly gave an order to Rui En who was behind him.

Rui En carried out the order without any hesitation.

The moment he reached the position, a warning sounded from his optical supercomputer.

"Boom!" Rui En's mecha suddenly exploded. In order to survive this attack, the captain sacrificed a member of his team.

However, to outsiders, they just thought that the team member voluntarily sacrificed himself to save his captain.

"Rui En. No, captain…" The ace operator who was running away from Li Yingjie heard the command being given through the team channel and knew what had just happened. His captain sent Rui En to death. Rui En never suspected anything.

Before the ace operator could regain his senses, he saw his captain turning around and aimed at him with his beam gun.

"No!" He thought that his captain wanted to kill him too. He stopped running. The moment he stopped, Li Yingjie caught up with him.

Actually, the captain was aiming at Li Yingjie. Spectators would think that the captain wanted to help his team member even in times of danger. As for why the operator suddenly stopped… his mecha might have malfunctioned.

After this act, the captain turned and rushed towards the mechas of the intergalactic pirates. He used the ruins around him to block Ling Lan's vision.

Ling Lan put down her gun regretfully. If she wanted to kill her opponent, she needed to destroy all the mecha blocking her sight. Her opponent's despicable actions made her blood boil but it was not enough to make her lose control of her emotions and risk her life.

Li Yingjie managed to catch up with his opponent due to Ling Lan's help. He was looking forward to making a cool move and killing his opponent. However, his opponent was decisive. He opened the public channel and shouted, "I surrender!"

Li Yingjie quickly stopped his killing technique. The inertia made him lose his balance and he almost fell. Fortunately, he had a good reflexes so he managed to stabilize his mecha.

"Boss, what should I do?" Li Yingjie quickly asked Ling Lan.

"What should you do? Capture the prisoner," Ling Lan replied calmly. She wanted to know who the person in the brand new ace mecha model was.

"I understand." Li Yingjie happily grabbed the mecha and flew over. He remembered to dispose of all the weapons on his opponent's mecha.

As for the other members of Lingtian, they were already bringing back the new ace mecha model on Ling Lan's order. Only Li Lanfeng stood beside Ling Lan. He knew that Ling Lan was strong but he still wanted to stay beside her and protect her.