1383 - 1393

1383 Reckless.

When they returned to the rainbow palace, they went directly to the main hall. As they pushed open the door to the main hall, the sight of an apocalypse was revealed to them. However, there was no one in sight. Everyone's expression turned grave when they couldn't see Ling Lan. Under Ji Ming's lead, they rushed towards Ling Lan's room.

"Boss!" Han Xuya was the most anxious out of everyone. She was so worried about Ling Lan's safety that she recklessly pushed the door open without asking and ran inside.

Behind her, Luo Chao stood there, looking helplessly at her hand. She wanted to grab Han Xuya but she missed her by just an inch.

"Hmph~" A cold snort was heard. Then, the familiar voice of Boss entered their ears. "Come in."

Hearing the calm voice, everyone finally felt relieved. They took a deep breath before stepping into the room.

Once they entered the room, they saw Han Xuya being locked up in a huge ice cube three meters away from the main door, only her head was not encased in ice. She looked at them pleadingly as she mouthed out the word 'help'. She was obviously asking them to save her as soon as possible. She was probably afraid of angering Boss so she didn't make any sound.

Mu Chaoran smiled when he saw this. He walked over and patted the sturdy and huge ice cube. He said, "We can't destroy this. You have to wait for Boss."

Han Xuya glared at Mu Chaoran when she saw him teasing her. She turned and looked pleadingly at Luo Chao and Li Shiyu. She knew that only these two people could help her.

Luo Chao shook her head helplessly. She had no choice but to shout into the bedroom, "Boss, we're here. Are you still resting?"

"Wait for me for a moment." Ling Lan's cold reply came from the room. Li Shiyu frowned slightly. Boss's voice sounded a little weak. It looked like Boss was seriously injured in his fight.

However, there were some people here whom he wasn't sure whether they were his allies. Thus, Li Shiyu suppressed the worry in his heart. He would wait until there was no one around before treating Boss.

After some time, Ling Lan slowly walked out of the room with a red cloak over her shoulders. She glanced at the group of people indifferently.

Luo Chao blushed at the sight. She didn't expect Boss to be so handsome when she wore a red cloak. The bright red colour and the cold aura of Bboss were two extremes but on Ling Lan, they seemed strangely harmonious.

Mu Chaoran and Tang Ningyu felt confused when they saw Ling Lan. Was this still the pure and invisible Little Brother Shaoyun in their memory?

Of course, this wasn't the cold and oppressive Major General Ling they saw on Planet General either.

The current Ling Lan was still cold but he wasn't extremely cold like how she was in the army. She was more indifferent now. She gave off the feeling that she had forsaken the world, looking at the world coldly as a bystander. It felt as though nothing mattered to her. Her aura wasn't as domineering as before when no one dared to look at her in the eyes. However, her nonchalant glance was still too piercing for someone to look directly at her.

"Sit." Ling Lan signaled for everyone to sit down and talk.

Hearing Ling Lan talking, Luo Chao regained her senses. She couldn't bear to see Han Xuya being punished so Luo Chao pleaded for her. "Boss, Xuya was reckless, but she was just worried about you and wanted to see you. Please forgive her."

Ling Lan glanced at Han Xuya. Han Xuya looked like she knew what she did was wrong. Thus, Ling Lan flicked her finger and the ice cube around Han Xuya dispersed immediately.

"Don't be so reckless in the future," Ling Lan said.

Based on how natural Han Xuya pushed open her door, she probably did it many times in the military camp. It was alright if she just pushed her door or Luo Chao's door but if she pushed other men's door like this, wouldn't she suffer if she saw anything she shouldn���t see?

Fine, Ling Lan never thought that the men would be the ones that would suffer in that situation. If a situation like that happened, she would decisively stand on the lady's side.

"I understand, Boss." Han Xuya quickly raised her hand to show that she understood.

Everyone sat down. Ling Lan looked at Ji Ming. "What happened yesterday?"

Ji Ming quickly stood up and replied, "There were indeed many factions that got greedy. Many of those dirty thieves came." As he spoke, he looked at Luo Chao and Li Shiyu before continuing, "However, the Jialan Ship had a mecha clan protecting it so everything ended well."

Even the people of the starship came to visit Lord Gen. From the looks of it, Lord Gen's position in the Soul Society wasn't as simple as he thought.

"That's good." Ling Lan looked at Li Shiyu.

Li Shiyu didn't need Ling Lan to open her mouth to know what she wanted to ask. He said, "There are some injured but no one died."

Ling Lan nodded her head in satisfaction. This was just the start of her overall plan, so she didn't hope to see casualties so early. Although Ling Lan knew that they would be casualties in her pursuit to conquer the Lawless Lands, she still hoped to push it as far back as possible.

Ji Ming remembered the mess they saw in the main hall. He couldn't suppress his curiosity so he asked, "Lord Gen, what happened in the main hall. Did someone attack the rainbow palace?"

"Oh, that place… Lord Kun and I got excited during our chat so we decided to have a duel. I didn't notice the state of the main hall." Ling Lan replied dispassionately, "Since you asked, you'll be in charge of the maintenance of the main hall."

"Yes, Lord Gen," Ji Ming replied happily. To him, this was the first step Lord Gen was taking in trusting him.

"Go ahead." Ling Lan waved her hand. Ji Ming left the room and started getting busy with repairing the main hall.

There were now only the people from Lingtian and the Flying Dragon Special Forces left in the room. Li Shiyu looked at Ling Lan and enquired whether these two people from the Flying Dragon Special Forces could be trusted.

Ling Lan gave him a look to tell them that they were alright. Li Shiyu put down his worry and immediately rushed over to Ling Lan's side. He took out a small device and started inspecting Ling Lan with it.

Luo Chao and Han Xuya looked at Ling Lan worriedly as they noticed her pale face.

"Boss, why didn't you take the Nuwa agent?" Li Shiyu was slightly furious.

He detected that Ling Lan's old injury had flared up again because she fought before her old injury could recover. Hence, with the addition of this new injury seriously damaged her body. This kind of injury was the hardest to treat as it needed to be treated slowly. Once a mistake was made during the recovery process, there would be lost-lasting implications. As a responsible military doctor, Li Shiyu hated this kind of patient. First, they were hard to treat, and second, they were irresponsible people who didn't take care of their bodies.

"I finished it," Ling Lan said calmly.

"You finished it?" Li Shiyu exclaimed in surprise. Boss only left them for a few days and he already finished all the Nuwa agents he brought along with him? Those were life-saving agents. Did Boss drink them for his three meals?

"Yeah. I almost died so I used all of them." The way Ling Lan talked about her close shave to death made it sound extremely casual.

1384 Identity Of The Spy

Li Shiyu was shaken to his core. Just how severe was Boss's injuries for him to use up that many Nuwa agents? Everyone was totally aware that Boss was heaven's child who could have anything he wanted in life. Their current situation was a perfect example of this, where Boss easily took over the position of Lord Gen after coming to the Lawless Lands for only such a short amount of time. However, no one knew that him acquiring this position almost had cost him his life.

After thinking about the struggles Boss had encountered, Li Shiyu rejoiced that he made the decision to come. At least when Boss goes to the front-lines, he would be able to nurse Boss's body when he returned back after a tough battle.

While he was praising himself in his head, his hands didn't stop moving as he prepared two vials of Nuwa agents before handing them to Ling Lan.

Ling Lan calmly took them off Li Shiyu's hands and drank them immediately. With Nuwa agent by her side, her recovery speed would increase by quite a lot. In a place that was fraught with danger, quickly recovering can ensure her own battle strength and safety.

Ling Lan quickly absorbed most of the Nuwa agent's effects. The rest of the effects must be absorbed slowly. The amount of Nuwa agent Li Shiyu had given her was very precise. If there was anymore, her body wouldn't be able to absorb it which would be a waste.

After all, this was not the Federation. Li Shiyu had the ability of creating the agent, but here he didn't have the materials to create anymore. In a barren place like this, Nuwa agents were basically equivalent to another life, so they must not waste even a drop of it.

Feeling her condition becoming much better, Ling Lan placed her attention on Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran. Yesterday, when she was deflecting the suspicion on her from the 13 Lords, she didn't have any time to speak to them in detail. Now, the danger had passed so Ling Lan was in the mood to speak with them.

"You probably already know roughly what I want to do. Tell me, are you planning on going back or staying?" asked Ling Lan in a straightforward manner.

"You want to make use of this barren land?" Tang Ningyu asked with a disapproving expression. "Will that be of any use? You should return to the Federation with us instead. The position of general of the 23rd division is waiting for you. Your future shouldn't be wasted in such a barren place."

"What's the military headquarters' answer for my father's death?" asked Ling Lan coldly.

"…" Tang Ningyu was silenced by Ling Lan's oddly piercing words. He didn't know how to respond.

"Just say it. Although I already know what they did, I still want to know how despicable they can be." Ling Lan pulled on her sleeves as her expression turned colder than normal. Looking at the sight before them, Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran felt that the icy cold Major General Ling from the past had returned.

Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran looked at each other with vigilance. Then, in the end, Mu Chaoran bit his lip as he said, "Taking on the enemy without being given any orders to engage! Dealing with private matters over performing his duties!"

"Great, great, great! Haha…" Ling Lan laughed angrily. Her malevolent aura quickly exploded outwards.

"Ugh!" Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran's chests felt as if a fist had ruthlessly struck them. A mouthful of blood instantly came out from their mouths.

Luckily, Ling Lan only fully let go for a slight moment. Otherwise, the two of them wouldn't be just spitting out blood. On the other side, Li Shiyu, Han Xuya and Luo Chao were not even one bit affected. Despite being overly angry, she didn't lose her rationality. Her force of presence was still controlled perfectly. It was only sent towards Mu Chaoran and Tang Ningyu.

"Haha, that's the military headquarters for you! In the Twilight Empire, which one of the steps that my father took wasn't after careful planning and thought? If it wasn't for their devious scheme, why would he leave a winning battle to come and save me?" Ling Lan laughed out maniacally. "Even though it is all their fault, they not only push away all responsibility for their crimes, they even dirty the name of my father. Tell me, what can I do against a completely corrupt military headquarters if I go back? I probably would become a puppet that they can toss back and forth."

"However, you can't resolve General Ling��s grievances by being here," shouted Mu Chaoran. He didn't want Ling Lan to walk a crooked path. The stronger Ling Lan became, the more afraid he was that she would walk the wrong path. If that day were to come, it would be the end of the Federation.

"I can't now, but it doesn't mean I can't go back in the future," Ling Lan regained her composure and said in a calm expression. The anger she had festing in her body seemed to have disappeared.

Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran stared blankly after hearing those words. Mu Chaoran recovered quicker of the two. "You want to take over the Lawless Lands? That's impossible."

Only by becoming the king of the Lawless Lands, would Ling Lan have the qualifications to negotiate with the Federation. Then, there would be hope for the military headquarters to give some leeway and right the wrong they did to Ling Xiao.

"Why would it be impossible? I'm already one of the 13 Lords," asked Ling Lan.

"It's impossible. No matter if it's the Federation, Caesar or any other nations, they won't allow the Lawless Lands to have just one king." said Tang Ningyu with certainty. As the next generation leader who was developed by the Flying Dragon Special Forces, the database Tang Ningyu had access to was vast. For example, secrets regarding the Lawless Lands.

"I know. There's spies hidden in here from many nations. Once they discover danger, they would work with their home nation to create chaos and bloodshed." During the time on the Lawless Lands, Ling Lan had been reading through the documented events on the Lawless Lands. She had more or less discovered some patterns.

Tang Ningyu's mouth moved but in the end, no words came out of his mouth. In his mind, the Federation wouldn't resort to doing that.

"I also know that some of these spies have risen quite high here. For example, being the guardians of the 13 Lords." While Ling Lan was speaking, she was also focused on Tang Ningyu's expression. "Some may even have become one of the 13 Lords…"

After those words were said, Tang Ningyu's eyes twitched a little. Despite it being hard to detect, how could it escape from Ling Lan's sharp eyes?

Seeing that, Ling Lan narrowed her eyes and smirked. It was just as she had expected!

In the past few days, Ling Lan had been thinking about an issue. It was clear that Lord Qian and Lord Kun were strong, but why had they never thought about unifying the Lawless Lands? With the strength of the Lord Qian and Kun, it was definitely possible.

Unless, Lord Qian wasn't in the god-realm like the rumours said. However, all of the documented information showed that the possibility of Lord Qian had entered the god-realm was highly likely.

Lord Kun, who just fought with Ling Lan, was clearly halfway into the god-realm. Someone who could be respected by someone who was halfway into the god-realm, other than an actual god-realm individual, there was no other exception.

The fight with Lord Kun wasn't just to buy her more time. Ling Lan was also using that fight to determine Lord Qian's real strength.

Both sides were probing each other. Perhaps Ling Lan fell into the trap of believing the fake facade the opponent had purposely created. However, Ling Lan had always been cautious. She would rather assume her opponents to be stronger than her than to think they were weaker.

The only thing that could scare Lord Qian from unifying the Lawless was definitely the person or people pulling the strings behind the 13 Lords. Or perhaps Lord Qian himself was also a spy.

This prediction seemed absurd, but after careful thought, it was a possibility.

1385 Damage!

It was highly likely the Lawless Lands being in a messy state was because of that possibility. A treaty of alliance between the 13 Lords but on the surface, they flooded each other's land pillaging, killing, raiding, doing everything possible to make it seem that peace would be impossible between the 13 Lords, and the reason for them doing so? They wasted countless lives of innocent citizens with terror just to create an image of an unstable land to throw off the surveillance being put on them by the other nations

So what if spies were embedded in their power structure? They had spent their entire youth, maybe even their entire life at the Lawless Lands. Ultimately, humans were slaves to their emotions, and as time passed by, emotions would change. When people obtain positions of power, they would be more susceptible to their selfish desires, abandoning what they had in the Federation just to fulfill their selfish desires here. All in all, people's intent would change over time.

"The 13 Lords are very interesting." Ling Lan smiled. "We have a lot of time. We can slowly dig deeper into them, and I'm sure there'll definitely be something."

Tang Ningyu calmed down and took a deep breath. He said, "Lieutenant General Ling, I hope that you can consider this carefully. You're one of the 13 Lords now, but it won't affect the overall power structure of the entire Lawless Lands. Hence, the nations won't act when they receive the news. But, when they realise that you have the intention of unifying the Lawless Lands, they will definitely get rid of you at all costs. There is no question in that."

"We won't let them know my intention then." Ling Lan smiled at Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran ambiguously. "Are you planning to tell them what I said to the Federation?"

Tang Ningyu pursed his lips tightly. The emotions in his gaze were complicated. He couldn't decide what he should do in that instant. After remaining quiet for some time, he finally replied, "The order I received is to protect you. The spies have nothing to do with me."

In the end, he still lost to his feelings for Pei Shaoyun. He only interacted with Pei Shaoyun for a short one month and met with his real identity a few times after that. By right, he shouldn't have such a deep emotional attachment to him. However, in the depths of his mind, the innocent smile and the eyes that trusted him fully would always appear in his mind whenever he tried to ignore him. Because of this feeling of guilt, he was unable to do anything harmful to the real identity of Pei Shaoyun.

Forget it, he should just pretend that he didn't know anything. He was supposed to watch over the Ling Lan, not the Lawless Lands. Why should he care?

Also, if Ling Lan was able to hide the truth from the tight surveillance and unify the Lawless Lands, that was his ability to do that.

Tang Ningyu decided to be a bystander. As for Mu Chaoran, he wasn't as loyal to the Federation or to the Flying Dragon Special Forces as Tang Ningyu. Thus, he obviously wouldn't report Ling Lan to the Flying Dragon Special Forces. From the very beginning, he already decided to side with Ling Lan.

Plus, a hacker like Ling Lan wouldn't let them have any opportunity to leak the news out.

The two of them understood this point so they chose not to do anything. They were already Ling Lan's guests, so they wouldn't be so stupid as to become his prisoner.

Li Lanfeng, who had stayed in the Chaotic Lands for three months, finally compiled all the supplies Ling Lan needed with the help of Xia Qingyi.

He yearned to go back to Ling Lan so he left the port the same night and rushed all the way to the Lawless Lands. By the time he arrived at the Lawless Lands, he had already left Ling Lan for five months.

The moment Li Lanfeng reached the port of Lawless Lands, he called the manager of the port to look after the three transport ships. After he settled everything he needed to do, he rushed all the way back to the rainbow palace.

This was the first time he left Ling Lan for so long. He missed Ling Lan so much that he almost went mad. One day apart feels like three autumns. Li Lanfeng finally had a taste of what this felt like.

He dashed straight to Ling Lan's room. He knew that if there wasn't any matter for him to deal with, Ling Lan would most probably be cultivating or resting in his room.

"Ling Lan!" Li Lanfeng pushed the door open and shouted happily.

"Ah, Big Brother Li is back." A pleasant voice much like the gentle sounds of a windchime floated over.

Li Lanfeng stopped in his tracks abruptly. The joy on his face disappeared instantly and his expression turned cold.

But, the next second, a smile appeared on his face again. His aura turned gentle. "It's Luo Chao."

Yes, it must be because the Jialan Ship had arrived. He missed Ling Lan so much that he forgot all about the Jialan Ship. They needed Luo Chao to merge with Jialan in order for them to send the supplies within such a tight time limit.

"Why are you in Boss's room?" This was the matter Li Lanfeng was most concerned about. Even if she was Boss's fiancée, they should avoid arousing those rumours, right?

"Boss asked Xuya and I to move in together with him," Luo Chao said shyly. Although they knew that Boss was a lady, others didn't. Thus, when they moved in, everyone would definitely think that they were already Boss's women.

In actual fact, this was indeed the case.

Luo Chao's words made Li Lanfeng's heart ache tremendously. His heart couldn't bear such torment.

"C-Con…" He wasn't able to say the word 'congratulations' no matter how hard he gritted his teeth.

Li Lanfeng didn't say anything but Luo Chao understood what he wanted to say. Her face immediately turned hot. Fortunately, she still remembered the order Ling Lan gave her. She said hurriedly, "Boss asked you to meet him in the study."

Although Ling Lan's decision would cause some misunderstanding, Luo Chao and Han Xuya knew that this was Boss's way of protecting them. There were too many powerful people in the rainbow palace. All of them were unruly and belonged to the previous Lord Gen. They didn't dare to create any trouble now because they succumbed to Boss's frightening strength but that didn't mean that they might not do something stupid. For instance, they might challenge Ling Lan's subordinates to crack down Ling Lan's powerful image.

The two ladies were on the weaker side so they were easy targets for these people. When someone wasn't strong enough, their identity became even more important.

Li Lanfeng forced the heart-throbbing pain back into the recesses of his body when he heard this. He quickly turned around and dashed into Ling Lan's study.

The moment he entered the room, he heard Ling Lan's indifferent voice. "You are back."

Hearing the words, Li Lanfeng felt warmth in his heart. Ling Lan's words seemed to have appeased the throbbing pain a little.

"I… didn't expect your two fiancées to come." Li Lanfeng had already lost his cool. He didn't choose to report his work but instead, insisted on finding the truth.

"Luo Chao came so it would be weird if Xuya didn't come." Ling Lan looked at Li Lanfeng in surprise. With Li Lanfeng's intelligence, he should be able to guess what had happened easily.

"I thought that Qi Long wouldn't bear to let her go." Li Lanfeng couldn't control his desire to tamper their relationship so he acted decisively.

Ling Lan was shocked. "What do you mean?"

Li Lanfeng rubbed his forehead in frustration. He seemed to regret what he said without thinking just now.

"I knew Xuya likes Qi Long. Are you saying Qi Long likes her too?" Ling Lan was happy. She didn't want her two younger sisters to really become her fake wives. If there were really people who like them without fearing that they would offend her or get beaten to death by her, and she felt that the man was good too, she didn't mind letting her younger sisters go.

Ling Lan had more expressions than normal but the greater the fluctuations in her emotions, the colder her expression became. This made it harder for people to understand her true emotions.

Hence, in Li Lanfeng's eyes, Ling Lan looked angry.

As expected, Ling Lan liked women. He liked his two fiancées.

1386 The Result Of Hunger

At this realization, Li Lanfeng was in despair. Did this mean that he doesn't have any hope at all?

'No! Nothing is certain until the last moment. I still have a chance. I must have.'

Li Lanfeng's eyes were sparkling. Initially, he was planning on progressing their relationship slowly. He wanted to ingrain himself into Ling Lan's heart with baby steps. However, the arrival of Luo Chao and Han Xuya lit a fire under his butt. He now understood he must take the initiative. If not, he would lose everything.

"In the past, I unintentionally noticed that Qi Long's gaze is a little special when he looks at Xuya. That's why I took notice of it." The moment Li Lanfeng decided to take the initiative, he wouldn't be soft-hearted.

"Qi Long has been hiding it from me very well," Ling Lan controlled her urge to roll her eyes as she spoke calmly.

It was no surprise that they were starting to look for love since they were now adults. She still remembered in the past when Han Xuya confessed to Qi Long. That brat rejected her directly with the reason of wanting to focus on becoming stronger.

"I think he's just afraid of offending you. After all, Xuya is your woman. Even if Qi Long really likes her, he won't dare to say it." Li Lanfeng pushed forward secretly again.

"You know that I was heavily injured at that time so I had to accept Luo Chao and Xuya's care under those circumstances. My family rule is like this so I must abide by it. But, if the two of them like each other, I can't heartlessly break them up, right? But, the brat's performance really disappoints me. He is really bad," Ling Lan said angrily.

Was she so unreasonable in Qi Long's eyes?

"Maybe the more you love someone, the harder it is to break the status quo… Plus, Qi Long has respected you ever since he was young. He takes you as his elder brother. He might feel bad if he troubled you with his love struggles." Li Lanfeng pretended to be speaking up for Qi Long.

"I have to thank you for telling me this, Li Lanfeng." Ling Lan felt thankful in her heart. She didn't believe that Li Lanfeng had a slip of his tongue. He must have discovered something so he used this chance to remind her.

Ling Lan lifted her right hand and rubbed the middle of her eyebrows. In the future, she might have to worry about her younger sisters' marriage to prevent some men from snatching them away when she wasn't paying attention.

Although Qi Long was a brother she groomed personally, in this case, she would stand on her younger sister's side. If anyone dared to bully her younger sisters, even if they were her brothers, she would beat them up.

Li Lanfeng saw this and hurried forward. He stood behind Ling Lan and helped her to massage her temples.

"Actually, there's no need to be angry. You should know that you're the dream lover of all the women in the Federation. If you want, there will be a line of women waiting to marry you," Li Lanfeng comforted Ling Lan softly. He was afraid that the issue he said would make him Ling Lan unhappy.

"The Federation? Dream lover? Isn't that talking about my father?" Ling Lan felt speechless. Everyone envied her but to her, this was nothing to be happy about.

"That's the generation before us. Two years ago, the military did a survey. The person that the ladies in our generation wanted to marry the most is you." Li Lanfeng's heart was dripping blood. If he had a choice, he didn't want to say this. This meant that he had many potential love rivals, too many. What made him the most frustrated was that he still reminded Ling Lan about it voluntarily. Li Lanfeng felt that in this relationship, all of his actions were getting dumber by the second.

"You mean that without Han Xuya, there will still be many ladies waiting for me to pick?" Ling Lan finally understood why Li Lanfeng said this to her. She found it infuriating and funny at the same time. She felt touched too. Without a doubt, Li Lanfeng was worried that Qi Long and Han Xuya's issue would hurt her so he took great care to console her with those words.

"You said it." Li Lanfeng pushed the blame away from him instantly.

"I'm not a stud," Ling Lan said with disdain. "One wife is enough for me. Also, I don't have the heart to think about these now. This is what I've discovered during this period of time. Lanfeng, take a look at it." Ling Lan quickly ended the useless conversation and took a file from her table. She passed it to Li Lanfeng who was behind her.

Li Lanfeng took the file and quickly read through it. About a minute later, he closed the file.

"What do you think?" Ling Lan leaned back on her chair and turned her chair to face Li Lanfeng.

Li Lanfeng placed the file back on the table and contemplated for a while before replying, "The waters in the Lawless Lands are very deep. It's deeper than we expected."

"You see it too." The corners of Ling Lan's lips moved up slightly.

"That's because the information you chose is very useful. It's all very scattered but once you put them together, you'll still be able to notice a link between them." Admiration flashed past Li Lanfeng's eyes.

"The difficulty has increased but this is an opportunity for us too." Ling Lan's eyes shone brightly. At first, she thought that she would need at least eight to ten years to complete her goal but from the looks of it, if she planned her steps properly, she might be able to reach her goal faster.

Li Lanfeng said, "Diverting attention!"

Ling Lan said, "Substituting one for another!"

The two of them came up with their opinions simultaneously. When they heard each other's words, they exchanged a glance and smiled. Their plans were different but they knew that the result was the same.

Recently, the entire rainbow palace was very busy, from the top all the way to the bottom.

Whether it was the authoritative figures of the rainbow palace, or the maids, all of them very extremely busy.

During this time, the biggest change was the life of the maids. At the start, they always lowered their heads in fear but now, they were able to look straight into anyone's eyes.

Anyone, including the men under the other 13 Lords or the authoritative figures in the rainbow palace, felt their hearts shaking if they laid their eyes on these maids.

The maids were able to be so confident… Yes, and it was all because they were the personal guards of Lord Gen's wives.

That's right, those maids who didn't have any pride, the maids that could be bullied by anyone in the past, were gathered by the two wives of Lord Gen. Out of boredom, they gathered the maids to train them into their personal guards. The two wives even set a rule. The maids had to come to training every morning. All their work would be shifted to the afternoon. No one was supposed to disturb them during their training.

What? What about those team leaders, managers, or guardians who didn't have anyone serving them?

Nothing would happen. If they couldn't accept this, they could find Lord Gen for their maids.

This was the oppressive reply the two wives gave them.

Such actions undoubtedly ignited people's anger. So unsurprisingly, the infuriated group of guardians and managers went to look for Lord Gen to give them an answer.

They looked for a long time and finally found their Lord Gen in the kitchen.

When they saw him, they were all dumbstruck.

The powerful Lord Gen in their memory was raising a kitchen knife and gesturing the knife at a fish on the chopping board. He seemed to be considering how he should cut the fist.

He looked… a little disheveled.

When Lord Gen saw them, he asked calmly, "What's the matter?"

When he found out what they were here for, he replied with a question. "Don't you have hands?"

"So?"

"So… you go make your own breakfast! Do you understand?" Lord Gen growled furiously at them. He looked like a malevolent devil coming from the depths of hell. No one dared to protest anymore.

After everyone calmed down and analysed the situation, they instantly understood that the malicious gaze from their Lord Gen was because he was too hungry.

1387 Want To Do.

Ling Lan laid lazily on her soft couch. She felt like she received a new life.

At the side, there were no leftovers on the plates. A pair of slender and beautiful hands were tidying the table carefully.

"I didn't expect your cooking skills to be so good." Ling Lan was in a good mood. Her eyes were curved upwards like the beautiful crescent moon.

This scene was entirely different from Ling Lan's usual cold and proper image. Somehow, it was still mesmerizing.

At the rare sight, Li Lanfeng's hands trembled slightly. The plates he was holding almost slid off his trembling hands. Fortunately, he reacted quickly. He exerted force on his fingers, managing to nip the plate between his fingers. Luckily, he didn't embarrass himself in front of Ling Lan.

"In the past, I lived alone so if I want to eat something, I have to figure it out myself," Li Lanfeng replied calmly. He wouldn't tell Ling Lan that in order to win his heart over, he secretly learned many new techniques. Cooking skills was ranked the number one technique you had to know when chasing someone, so he definitely learned it well.

This was the kind of person Li Lanfeng was. If he decided to do something, he would do it to perfection.

His hard work finally paid off. Li Lanfeng waited for a long time to show off his cooking skills, and the chance came.

When he knew that Ling Lan was figuring out how to cook in the kitchen, Li Lanfeng prepared an elaborate breakfast for him. However, he didn't send the food over directly, instead he waited until Ling Lan almost exploded in anger because of her hunger. Then, he would swoop in like an angel descending from heaven, gracing Ling Lan with food that could save her life.

As expected, Ling Lan was extremely touched.

Li Lanfeng was indeed very scheming. He loved Ling Lan crazily but when he should be composed, he remained calm and calculated how he could get the most out of this serving of breakfast.

"You're really impressive. I tried to learn how to cook many times but I kept failing…" Ling Lan looked at Li Lanfeng in admiration. She had already realised that her talent in cooking was close to nil. She reckoned she inherited this gene from her mother. Luckily, her father's cooking skills were amazing.

"You don't have to worry about such small matters. It's a waste of your effort. "Li Lanfeng smiled. "In the future, I can be in charge of your breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"That'd be great. Thank you as always, Lanfeng." Ling Lan smiled in satisfaction. This would really solve her greatest difficulty. These past few days, she was really very hungry… Mind you, she had a huge appetite ever since she was young. If you stopped her from eating, she would really turn berserk.

She didn't know how Luo Chao and Han Xuya came up with the idea to train the maids. Ling Lan couldn't help but recalled what happened a few days ago.

"Boss." Luo Chao and Han Xuya rushed into her study room excitedly.

"What the matter?" Ling Lan put down the things she was doing and asked them with her raised head.

"We thought of what to do," Han Xuya shouted happily.

For the past three months, they could only stay in Ling Lan's room. If they wanted to go out, they had to make ample preparations. Ling Lan had to send a few powerful guardians to protect them or send Zhao Jun or Luo Lang to do it.

There were just too many dangers in the Lawless Lands. No one knew what would happen if they went out. Plus, Ling Lan was still reorganising the various factions in Lord Gen's territory. Where there was suppression, there would be resistance. At places where they couldn't see with their eyes, the battles never stopped. Ling Lan had to be careful.

One or two days were easy to bear but once they stayed here longer, Han Xuya and Luo Chao got bored. Of course, they were people who were able to restrain themselves. They knew they shouldn't create trouble for Boss at this time so they didn't say anything to her.

However, Ling Lan was always concerned about her two younger sisters so she soon realised their boredom. Thus, she asked them to look for meaningful things to do in the rainbow palace.

Her younger sisters were very obedient. They decided on the spot that they should go back and think about this carefully.

They thought deeply for more than ten days. They took so long that Ling Lan wanted to give them things to do. But, the two of them finally found an answer.

Ling Lan allowed them to think of a fun activity to do because she wanted to train them. She wanted them to learn how to quickly find their position in a new environment. This was how Xie Yi was trained in the past.

"Fine, tell me what you have thought of. After all, you have thought for a really long time." Ling Lan put down the documents in her hands and teased them.

Luo Chao glanced at Han Xuya. Han Xuya opened her mouth and said, "Boss, we have been studying the ranking system of the Lawless Lands. This is a place where strength determines your status. Powerful people will have a better life. In an organisation, they will be able to sit in high positions and enjoy more authority and benefit."

"Just like the nations in the central region, ladies are at the bottom of the social status. Their lives are probably worse than the ladies living in the central nations. In the Lawless Lands, the lowest beings, the maids, are women. Women can be sold and killed whenever people want. They are treated like animals…" Luo Chao's expression was sorrowful and furious. This place was a woman's hell. Unless they met a good husband, no one would have a good ending.

The women that had better lives were the maids of the 13 Lords. No wonder the women in the Lawless Lands turned crazy in order to be placed on the waiting list when the 13 Lords choose their maids every year. Those parents who loved their daughter were willing to spend a huge sum of money to buy a waiting list position. Those without money would kill to get a position.

"But, in actual fact, the women in the Lawless Lands are not as weak as the people from the central regions. After Brother Shiyu's experiments, we realised that the special climate and environment of the Lawless Lands caused a rise in people's physical constitutions here. This doesn't just apply to men. It applies to women too," Luo Chao continued speaking.

"It looks like you really did your homework. You even bother our extremely busy military doctor." Ling Lan smiled mysteriously at Luo Chao. Only she was able to ask Li Shiyu for a favour. If you asked who's the person who doted on Luo Chao the most in Lingtian, it wasn't her. It wasn't Luo Chao's blood-related brother, Luo Lang either. Instead, it was their military doctor, Li Shiyu. He had always loved her like his blood-related younger sister.

"I didn't. Brother Shiyu was already analysing the special environment of the Lawless Lands. He knew that I needed it so he gave me the result of his research," Luo Chao replied hurriedly. She just went to find Brother Shiyu and coincidentally, the thing he was researching on was what she needed.

"I'll believe whatever you say then." Ling Lan shrugged. What else could she do? This was her beloved younger sister. She couldn't expose her, right?

"Boss," Luo Chao and Han Xuya said simultaneously.

"Fine, fine, fine." Ling Lan quickly raised her hands to surrender in front of the whining Luo Chao and Han Xuya. "Continue speaking."

Her younger sisters' whining skills were really powerful. Even though she was a woman, she couldn't handle it. Ling Lan really felt worried about the men who liked her younger sisters.

1388 Very Shameless.

"We performed an examination on the physical constitutions of the maids in the palace, and we found out that most of them have physical constitutions that are as strong as the both of us. Some even have better physiques than us." Han Xuya's eyes lit up as she recounted their findings, as this finding made them exceptionally exhilarated.

"So…" Ling Lan seemed to understand what they wanted to do.

"So, we decided to train these maids to let them understand that women can take charge of their own lives too, and that they are not inferior to anyone, not even to their male counterparts," Han Xuya clenched his fist as she spoke excitedly.

"In the past, we were able to form an all-female combat team in Lingtian. Today, we will form an army of capable women that will strike fear into whoever hears of their name." Luo Chao took a step forward as she puffed up her chest confidently. Her face was already red in excitement and her eyes were sparkling brightly as she envisioned the future of her successful army.

"Have you formulated a plan for your goal?" Ling Lan thought for a moment and asked.

"We've already done it. Boss, please take a look at it." Han Xuya quickly took out the proposal they prepared and passed it to Ling Lan.

Looking at the nervous and anticipating faces of Han Xuya and LUo Chao, Ling Lan let out a wide smile like a proud mom would and said, "You really made ample preparations. You even have the proposal ready."

Han Xuya scratched her head and smiled foolishly in reply.

Ling Lan carefully read through the carefully written and well thought out words and snickered a little

"It looks like you didn't just use my military doctor. You even brought in my strategist." Ling Lan smiled ambiguously at Luo Chao and Han Xuya again.

"No, w-we did not. We really didn't. Lanfeng just felt that our idea is very good but is lacking in some aspects, so he kindly offered us some pointers to improve on the plan." Han Xuya wiped away the cold sweat off her forehead. In reality, they really did use Boss's name to ask many of her loyal subordinates to help come up with this meticulous plan.

"It's fine. Anyways, the proposal is very detailed. The timeline is thoroughly planned out and segmented well too. If you can persist with this plan, you might really see some great results." Every aspect of the proposal was written clearly, and issues that might come up were already geared up with contingency plans to resolve them. If they followed the proposal, there would be no problem.

But, even still, it was quite unexpected for Li Lanfeng to help them with their proposal. What was even more surprising was that she could tell he had spent a significant amount of effort to write this proposal. Ling Lan knew Li Lanfeng well enough to tell that he wasn't a person who would do tasks that were of no benefit to him unless she was the one who ordered him to. Without her direct order, Li Lanfeng would reject anyone who required his expertise. Even if he couldn't coldly reject the person entirely because of their relationship, he would just come up with some half-assed plans and be done with it.

At that time, Ling Lan didn't actually understand why Li Lanfeng would help Han Xuya and Luo Chao so much. Now, after satiating her hunger, it was as if a hemorrhage in her brain had been unblocked, ideas of why Li Lanfeng would help them surfaced in her mind until only one idea persisted.

"Were you the one who gave Luo Chao and Xuya the idea to train the maids?" Ling Lan immediately sat up straight from the sofa. Her eyes narrowed as she thought, 'So this is the fellow who caused me to be hungry for so many days. Why did I even feel grateful towards him in the first place?'

"Not really," Li Lanfeng said with an innocent face.

However, his innocent baby face didn't work on Ling Lan as she smiled coldly. "If it wasn't you, who suggested the idea then? Anyways, why would you be so kind as to help them write up an entire proposal in the first place?"

'Hmph, are you trying to fool me? Don't you know I understand you the best? What a sneaky guy! Hnng!'

"It is a long story." Li Lanfeng gently and meticulously wiped the coffee table as he replied calmly, "When I came back, I kept noticing them sighing every day. I can't bear to see them like this so I asked them what happened."

"So, you gave them this stupid idea?" Ling Lan asked in frustration.

"No…" Li Lanfeng gave a wronged puppy-eyed look. "After hearing their concerns, I suggested Luo Chao and Xuya to return to the Jialan Ship. After all, they are the captain and vice-captain of the ship. They can go back and train their little soldiers to pass time. Luo Lang will also be able to come back. Plus, I think Luo Lang is more suited to stay here."

"But, they can't go back now." The Jialan Ship was now kept under tight surveillance from all the factions in the Lawless Lands. Luckily, everyone thought that Luo Lang was the captain of the Jialan Ship. With him being a titled domain formidable warrior and having an ace mecha clan at his beck and call, were enough to deter anymore from doing any shady business. If they revealed Luo Chao and Han Xuya as the true captains of the ship, trouble would come right on their doorsteps the very next day.

Ling Lan wasn't afraid of those direct confrontations, but she was very afraid of the secret schemes they could cook up to mess with the two ladies. So, even though it pained her seeing her sisters so sad, she had to keep Luo Chao and Han Xuya in her room.

"I know, so I asked them to cultivate whenever they have the time to improve their personal strength. Only when they have the capability to protect themselves and the people around them, can they be released." Li Lanfeng smiled. He appeared as if he was really thinking for his younger sisters.

"Hadn't they been doing that for the past three months?" Ling Lan glared at Li Lanfeng angrily. What he said achieved nothing but confused her in a giant loop. In the end, wasn't he saying the same thing?

"Yes. I just said it would be more tolerable if there are people training with them." Li Lanfeng shrugged. His expression was extremely innocent. "I just said this sentence at the end."

"Haha, so you're saying Luo Chao and Han Xuya were enlightened by your words and decided to train the maids?" Ling Lan scoffed. "Do you think I'm so easy to fool?"

"No. I might be able to fool anyone else, but I can't fool you, Ling Lan." Li Lanfeng sighed. "Aren't you the one who understands me the most?"

Ling Lan just looked at him coldly.

"Fine, I concede. I did say something else." Li Lanfeng raised his hands to surrender. He felt bitter in his heart. How frustrating. Why can't I hide anything from him? Rabbit really understood him very well. He might be unable to escape from his grasp in his entire life.

"I told them I miss the Lingtian Independent Army. If we were there, they would be able to lead their army of females to challenge the other battle teams for some fun. They won't be so bored there." Li Lanfeng finally told her the truth.

"I knew the root of the problem lies in you." Ling Lan felt strange that Han Xuya and Luo Chao would suddenly have the idea of training the maids in the palace when they never thought about this for the past three months. Now, she found the culprit who foiled her breakfast and lunch in the past few days.

"But, why did you suggest such a bad idea?" Ling Lan felt speechless. The maids all went to train, leaving no one behind to cook until it was late afternoon. If Li Lanfeng didn't help with her breakfast and lunch, she would have to resort to using her non-existent cooking skills. Ling Lan felt her heart clogging just thinking about it.

"I didn't expect you to agree." Li Lanfeng pulled a long face. He looked as if he really did mention it casually.

"You've already written such a good proposal. How can I not agree to it?" Ling Lan felt even more frustrated. If you didn't want it to happen, why would you write such a thorough proposal? She couldn't even find a reason to reject them.

"That's because you will be looking at it." Li Lanfeng appeared even more innocent. "If I didn't write it properly, you might think that my skills have decreased. I will feel very wronged if you really think that."

"Huh? Your skills are decreasing? I'll thank you if you stop being so good at shamelessly scheming against people." Ling Lan rolled her eyes at Li Lanfeng with an annoyed expression. His words were too fake. He obviously created this mess but he shamelessly denied it.

"Thank you for your compliment." Ling Lan was completely defeated by Li Lanfeng's proud look when he 'complimented' his shamelessness.

1389 Reliable?

Li Lanfeng's smile broke a little when he noticed that Ling Lan's expression was still frosty. He conceded in the end "Fine, it's my fault. I'm willing to make up for my mistake. I'll take care of all your meals from now on, is that alright?"

"At least, you're smart when it comes to appeasing me," Ling Lan replied in satisfaction. If Li Lanfeng didn't dare to admit his mistake, she would definitely drag him to the training room next door and teach him a good lesson.

Her attitude must be too good recently. All of them were starting to rebel.

Li Lanfeng laughed softly when he heard this. He carried a pile of plates and chopsticks and left Ling Lan's room.

The moment he stepped out of the door, Li Lanfeng's smile curled up even higher. He appeared a little arrogant.

His immaculate scheme allowed his plan of pursuit to finally go on full gear. First, he gave Han Xuya and Luo Chao some work to do so they didn't have to stay with Ling Lan all the time. Now, without them constantly reminding him that Ling Lan had two fiancées, he would be able to imprint himself deeper into Ling Lan's heart without interruption.

He now had more time to spend with Ling Lan with him being in charge of Ling Lan's three meals.

Li Lanfeng never thought of just making breakfast and lunch for Ling Lan. He was so greedy that he wanted to take care of her dinner too. He wanted Ling Lan to fall in love with his cooking. It would be the best if Ling Lan got addicted to his cooking. That way, Ling Lan wouldn't be able to leave him for his entire life.

Since he had already decided to chase a husband that had a difficulty grade of SSS+, Li Lanfeng knew that he had to use all kinds of methods while using a multi-pronged approach to break down the defenses in Ling Lan's heart.

Li Lanfeng never thought that he would fail. To win or die trying. He would either live a loving life with Ling Lan or die.

Ling Lan didn't know that the strategist she trusted the most actually had such 'evil thoughts' towards her. She didn't have much experience with romantic relationships, so she didn't notice the 'bad intentions' behind Li Lanfeng's current actions.

After half a year of reorganisation, Ling Lan finally took control of most of Lord Gen's territory. She took care of all those people and factions that had evil underlying intentions. Of course, this kind of reorganisation resulted in a series of bloodbath.

The people that acted were mostly Luo Lang, Zhao Jun, Tang Ningyu, and Mu Chaoran. Their methods when executing these bloodbaths were merciless and vicious. Soon, their feared name started to spread across the Lawless Lands, and soon they were deemed as the Four Heavenly Kings.

No one knew the names of these executioners, so they were given titles that used their individual unique appearance to differentiate them.

They were: Pretty Heavenly King (Luo Lang), Violent Heavenly King (Zhao Jun), Cold Heavenly King (Tang Ningyu), and Smiling Heavenly King (Mu Chaoran).

All the leaders of the various factions in the Lawless Lands knew about the Four Heavenly Kings. They were Lord Gen's most trusted confidants. Although there were ten guardians at the rainbow palace, they belonged to the previous Lord Gen, so they obviously would need some time to win over the trust of the new Lord Gen. The only guardian that the current Lord Gen trusted more was Ji Ming. Even Yu Shangfei, who accepted the new Lord Gen right at the start, lost to Ji Ming in terms of the trust given to them by Lord Gen.

Everyone thought that Yu Shangfei would be unwilling to accept this unfair treatment and would argue for his fair share of trust, but unexpectedly, Yu Shangfei voluntarily took a step back and listened to Ji Ming like a subordinate would. The other guardians of the rainbow palace were extremely astounded when they saw such a scene. It should be known that when they were still following the previous Lord Gen, Yu Shangfei was the right hand man while Ji Ming was more on the sidelines.

They didn't know that the reason Yu Shangfei suppressed his unhappiness was because he didn't have any confidence to outperform Ji Ming. Who told him to turn his coat on Ling Lan so early on. Although the new Lord Gen had told him to redeem himself by good service and didn't really punish him, the initial wrong move caused him to lose Ling Lan's trust. If he wanted to turn the tides around, he needed to perform well in the future.

During such a situation where his position was unstable, how would he dare to create any trouble? He had to tuck his tail between his legs and keep a low profile.

The old and new of the rainbow palace had a harmonious relationship with each other. Surprisingly, they actually didn't engage in internal strife, and it was all because the new Lord Gen didn't discriminate against the followers of the previous Lord Gen. Although he didn't really trust them, he still allowed them to remain in their positions while building a few new powerful teams to let his close confidants be the leaders.

When distributing miscellaneous missions, he still used the old guards. When he needed to strike hard and suppress those restless factions, he would use his confidants.

Since the Four Heavenly Kings were really young, everyone including the other 12 Lords, were waiting to see them make a laughing stock out of themselves. They wanted to see Ling Lan failing and embarrassing himself. However, although these four young men were young, their strength were on par with titled domain realm formidable warriors like them. Not only did they complete the missions Ling Lan assigned to them, they also earned a feared name for themselves.

The people that didn't take the new Lord Gen to heart didn't dare to underestimate him anymore after seeing the performance of these four young men.

But, in the Lawless Lands, peace was only temporary, and soon, Ling Lan and her men welcomed their first problem.

"Are you saying that the goods that we transported back this time were snatched by Lord Li's men?" Ling Lan was shocked when she heard the emergency report by Ji Ming.

Ji Ming nodded. "Based on the timeline, it's time for a battle royale."

Hearing the term, Ling Lan remembered the information she tidied up a few days ago. She raised her eyebrows and said, "A scuffle every three months, a battle every six months, and battle royale every year?"

"Yes. In the past few months, because of your new position, our people suppressed themselves very much. Hence, the scuffle didn't happen…" Ji Ming replied.

"So, will it be a battle or battle royale?" Ling Lan needed to ask clearly. There was a difference between a battle and battle royale. If she didn't know which one it was, she might make the wrong decision.

"Based on their movements, it should be a battle royale. However, you just succeeded the throne, so I don't know what the other lords are thinking." Ji Ming wasn't very clear on the procedures when it came to the matters of a new lord, since there had not been a change in the 13 Lords since he came here.

"A battle is a fight with one party, while battle royale is an all for nothing brawl with everyone involved." Ling Lan knocked on the handle of the ice throne and quickly started thinking of a solution.

"Let's discuss our plans on the basis that it will be a battle royale." At this moment, a gentle voice suggested behind her. It was Li Lanfeng who came in to send her lunch.

"Okay, let's do that." Ling Lan felt that this was the safer option. She nodded and said with a cold expression, "Ji Ming, immediately bring four guardians and the battle teams under them to the battlefield at the borders. Let them enjoy a good fight with Lord Li's men."

"Yes, Lord Gen," Ji Ming said excitedly. Without a doubt, this order meant that Lord Gen trusted him completely. Lord Gen gave him the right to command all the battle teams. Only a confidant could do this.

Li Lanfeng looked at Ji Ming's back as he left the palace happily. Then, he retracted his gaze and turned to look at Ling Lan. He asked, "Is he reliable?"

Li Lanfeng left the Lawless Lands for a long time so he didn't have a clear understanding of the old guards like Ji Ming and Yu Shangfei. Plus, Li Lanfeng was also a very suspicious person. Besides Ling Lan, he would suspect anyone else, much less trust them.

"You can give him about 60% of your trust. That's enough," Ling Lan replied indifferently.

This was Ling Lan. She never totally trusted anyone. She just knew how to put them to good use.

1390 Collaboration!

"I think the likelihood of it being a battle is slim. It is much more likely for them to start a battle royale." Ling Lan raised her chopsticks and ate a few mouthfuls of her lunch before she continued.

"Yes. If they really did wish to start a battle royale, they will look for you." During this period, Li Lanfeng had formed his own secret intelligence team. It was in charge of gathering all kinds of information from the territories of the other lords.

Ling Lan nodded and stopped talking. She focused on filling up her stomach.

Li Lanfeng sat at the side and looked quietly at Ling Lan. Whenever he looked at Ling Lan, he wondered how good it would be if he could just continue staring at him for his entire life.

Suddenly, Ling Lan hastened the speed of her chopsticks and finished the last bit of food. The moment she put down her chopsticks, a man in a purple gown appeared before her.

"What has happened for Lord Zhen to grace my palace with his presence?" Ling Lan calmly took the towel that Li Lanfeng passed over and wiped her hands slowly.

"Did Lord Li snatch your goods?" Lord Zhen smiled and asked.

"Yes. I want to know if this is a battle or the battle royale?" Ling Lan raised her eyebrows. In order to create the impression that the Lawless Lands were in chaos, the 13 Lords collaborated with each other to create many 'games' that were built on top of numerous corpses and pools of blood. As long as they were able to achieve the results they wanted, they didn't care how many injuries or casualties were caused.

When Ling Lan realized this, she felt pity for the lowest dregs of the Lawless Lands as their fates were being in the hands of these cruel lords. However, now, she needed to be involved with those cruel lords. She really hated this feeling of helplessness. She felt contempt towards the 13 Lords as well as those who feared the potential of the Lawless Lands.

"You're indeed a smart person. The other lords were wondering if we should inform you but Lord Qian and Lord Kun said that you would have known about it already so we don't need to make the extra effort," Lord Zhen lamented.

"I'm just surprised. Since the 13 Lords are already basically on the same side, why don't you just form an alliance and develop the Lawless Lands properly?" Ling Lan asked. Her clear and transparent eyes made Lord Zhen unsure if Ling Lan was testing him or if she was really curious about it.

He contemplated for a moment before answering slowly, "Humans are hard to predict. No one can know when they will be backstabbed if they form an alliance."

"I see. None of you completely trust one another." Ling Lan nodded.

Ling Lan's straightforward and direct answer stabbed right into Lord Zhen's heart. Could we still have a friendly conversation?

"Do you trust us?" Lord Zhen refuted.

Ling Lan pondered carefully before replying, "I really can't."

Lord Zhen felt frustrated by the reply again. This fellow wasn't even willing to pretend to be friendly. He was really bad.

"Did you come because I am collaborating with you for this battle royale?" Ling Lan noticed that Lord Zhen didn't have the interest to chat further so she went straight to the point and asked for his purpose of his visit.

"Clever. You understood everything without any explanations from me." Lord Zhen gathered his composure. Maybe this youth was still young so he hadn't learned how to be slick in his speech. He shouldn't make people feel so stifled when talking to him.

"Who is our opponent?" Ling Lan asked curiously. She wanted to know how the 13 Lords choose their enemies for a battle royale.

"This time, Lord Li and Lord Demon are on the same side," Lord Zhen replied.

"This time?" Ling Lan immediately caught the main point.

Lord Zhen looked at Ling Lan meaningfully. During all their conversations, this youth was able to catch the main point of his sentence every time. This sharpness was rarely seen among the younger generations he knew. Lord Zhen already didn't plan to hide so he nodded and said, "We drew lots."

"And you chose me?" Ling Lan smiled ambiguously. It looked like the other 12 lords admitted her identity as Lord Gen on the surface but deep down, they still discriminated against outsiders. They didn't even call her during such an event and just let her fate be decided by random lots.

"Actually, as long as six lords have gathered, we can start drawing lots," Lord Zhen explained why she wasn't invited. Ling Lan didn't know if he was speaking the truth or not.

"Is it a 2 versus 2 battle royale?" The documents kept in the rainbow palace didn't explain the battle royale clearly. Thus, Ling Lan still had many questions regarding it. Since she had the chance to clarify her doubts now, she wouldn't miss it. She would ask everything she needed to ask.

"Not really. There would be six teams. Besides the team which had been decided right from the start to be our enemies, we can still form other relationships with the other teams," Lord Zhen replied.

"Form relationships… they can be your enemies or your friends, right?" Once again, Ling Lan detected the hidden meaning behind Lord Zhen's words.

Lord Zhen was speechless. He was already so obscure with his words but the other party was still able to accurately catch the important point.

"I understand. How do you want to fight?" Ling Lan replied.

"Together." Lord Zhen gave a helpless look. If it wasn't for this, why did he come here?

"I mean, are we splitting up to fight with one opponent each or are were doing it together?" Ling Lan felt helpless too. In Lingtian, she didn't even need to talk. One look was enough for her comrades, whether it was Han Jijyun or Li Lanfeng, even people like Qi Long, Zhao Jun, and Xie Yi were able to understand her intention and made the necessary arrangements. She didn't need to go into so much detail.

"Of course it's together. Based on Lord Li's temper, he won't likely split up." Lord Zhen understood the other lords very well. Lord Li had a fiery temper. He liked to gather together and attack his opponent with all his might. As for Lord Demon, she didn't like to make any decisions so normally, she would listen to what her partner preferred.

"Is Lord Li very bossy?" Ling Lan asked when she noticed that Lord Zhen only mentioned Lord Li but said nothing about Lord Demon.

"He's a little bossy but that's because Lord Demon doesn't care about anything." Lord Zhen smiled as he explained the reason.

"Really…" Ling Lan was dumbfounded. She met Lord Demon before. That time, the impression that Lord Demon gave her wasn't that of a person who was easy to talk to…

However, Lord Zhen had known Lord Demon for more than ten years. He would have a much deeper understanding of her so Ling Lan decided to listen to Lord Zhen's opinion temporarily. As for whether Lord Demon was really like what Lord Zhen said, Ling Lan felt that she had the time to assess it personally.

"Oh, right. Whether it's the battle or the battle royale, the 13 Lords never show their faces." When Lord Zhen was leaving, he reminded Ling Lan.

"They don't show their faces?" Ling Lan frowned. She felt worried about letting her comrades go onto the battlefield alone without her overlooking them. After all, the men under the various lords, whether it was their techniques or their physical skills, were all much stronger than her comrades.

"Ling Lan, no one can be 100% certain of what will happen on the battlefield. You need to let go when you should. If not, they won't have the chance to grow up," Li Lanfeng suddenly opened his mouth and said.

"You're right." Ling Lan's gaze turned cold instantly. She wanted to protect the people she loved but she never thought of pampering or spoiling them.

"Ask Luo Lang, Mu Chaoran, and Tang Ningyu to lead their teams for battle. Let Zhao Jun lead the elite mecha battle team and follow behind them." Ling Lan gave her first battle command coldly.

"Yes." Li Lanfeng's expression turned stern too. He quickly changed into his subordinate mode and prepared to leave to inform his other comrades. Ling Lan abruptly stopped him and said, "Tell them that we don't do unfavourable trades."

Li Lanfeng smiled immediately. "I understand.���

As expected, Rabbit was still that cunning rabbit. He would never do anything that was unfavourable. Lord Li… you better take care of yourself.

1391 Resolve It Myself!

"Hey, what's your name?" Luo Lang, who arrived at the battlefield and was still looking at his surroundings curiously, heard a voice ringing by his ears.

Luo Lang turned around and saw a young man clad in purple clothing, looking at him with a smile on his face.

Luo Lang stared at him indifferently. He didn't answer and continued to look at his surroundings.

"That proud huh?" The young man had an amused look on his face. In the past, as long as he flirted with a girl, that girl would be pleasantly surprised and become shy. They wouldn't be as cold as this one in front of him.

Tang Ningyu nudged Mu Chaoran lightly with his elbow, "Looks like someone doesn't want to live anymore."

"Oh, indeed." Mu Chaoran smiled as his eyes looked over with interest.

"Should we intervene?" asked Tang Ningyu as he looked at Luo Lang's impatient expression after being bothered by the young man clad in purple.

Mu Chaoran gestured to Tang Ningyu to look at Zhao Jun, "Zhao Jun didn't even do anything, so why are you in a hurry to do something."

In the rainbow palace, possibly because knowing their agenda for coming here was not simple, Luo Lang and Zhao Jun weren't on the best of terms with Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran. They wouldn't even talk to each other unless there was business to be taken care of. Mu Chaoran was originally not a compassionate person. If they didn't bother him, then he wouldn't bother them. The only person who could make him bow down was probably Ling Lan. In contrast, despite Tang Ningyu's cold appearance, in reality, as long as things were not done too over the top, Tang Ningyu wouldn't take it to heart. He was much more friendly than Mu Chaoran.

Zhao Jun heard Mu Chaoran's words, turned around and replied, "It's fine. For this type of problem… Luo Lang is quite proficient in handling it."

In Lingtian, the leaders always dealt with their own business. Others would rarely lend a helping hand unless one person actually requested for help. This was a way of showing their trust in their comrades.

After being harrassed for quite a while, Luo Lang's patience was completely depleted, and in that instant, Luo Lang made a move. "Bam!" That young man was instantly slammed to the ground.

"Drive Master!" From afar, a group of men clad in purple pounced towards Luo Lang.

"Hmph!" Luo Lang only snorted coldly, and those men were instantly sent flying into the air. They fell to the ground stack on top of each other, moaning and groaning in pain. In that moment, there actually wasn't one person who could stand up.

The commotion alerted the other people from Lord Zhen's group. After seeing Luo Lang beating down on the young man clad in purple, their expressions instantly changed.

"You're taking this too far," A purple-cloaked elder suddenly appeared in front of Luo Lang and spoke in a cold voice.

"I hate it when people bother me after I already refused to talk several times," Luo Lang replied without any fear in his voice.

"Who are you?" asked the purple-cloaked elder cautiously when he sensed Luo Lang's force of presence being not much weaker than his own.

"I work under Lord Gen," said Luo Lang calmly as he stood up.

The purple-cloaked elder gestured to his subordinates to get Drive Master away from Luo Lang.

Luo Lang didn't stop them from doing so. He even stepped back to make it easier for them to take Drive Master away.

"Lord Gen really has many amazing individuals working under him. I was just speaking to Guardian Ji about this matter. I didn't think that I would be able to see someone as strong as you this early on," said the purpled-cloaked elder as he smiled. He used this opportunity to use Ji Ming's name to show that they held similar positions in each of their respective factions.

However, his words didn't change Luo Lang's attitude towards him. He was still cold as ice. "Thank you for your compliment."

"However, even though we are cooperating, you still have to give us an explanation as to why you attacked Drive Master with no reason at all." Luo Lang's expression of indifference made the elder become fraught with anger. The tone of his voice clearly turned somewhat passive aggressive.

1392 Sowing Seeds?

"Explanation?" Luo Lang raised his eyebrows and laughed his heart out. The ethereal sight brightened up the eyes of everyone who was lucky enough to see it. In their eyes, the entire world suddenly turned radiant and bright.

Suddenly, Luo Lang flicked his right hand out of everyone's vision. Following that, a dazzling white gleam flashed by the eyes of the spectators

The purple cloaked elder, who was the target of the dazzling white gleam, quickly backed up a few meters in one step.

Suddenly, a purple cloth slowly drifted down to the ground. Looking at the cloth, it was obvious the source of the cloth was from the elder.

At that moment, Luo Lang was already holding an unsheathed sword in his right hand, the sword that had cut the elder's sleeve.

The purple cloaked elder narrowed his eyes when he saw his sleeve on the ground. He slowly raised his head with a cold look in his eyes. "The Four Heavenly Kings…"

He was one of the enforcers working under Lord Zhen. Before he came here, Lord Zhen had already informed him to be wary of the Four Heavenly Kings working under Lord Gen.

They and the guardians of the past Lord Gen were familiar with each other and they all knew each other's bottom lines, so rarely would there be any quarrels. However, they had never met the new Four Heavenly Kings. Although they had heard from their subordinates about their appearances, the images they had in their minds were still blurry, not to mention knowing their temperaments or bottoms lines. Lord Zhen was telling them to be wary because he was afraid they might make a mistake and cause a scene with these four. After all, in this battle royale, they were allies. If there were any quarrels, it wouldn't be beneficial for either of them.

They were quite cautious in the beginning. However, no matter how cautious they were, they wouldn't know that among the Four Heavenly Kings working under Lord Gen, there would be someone who actually had the appearance of a young woman. It was even his dumb grandson who disturbed that person. One mistake could perhaps spiral into creating a rift between the two groups.

Why was the purple cloaked elder so sure of Luo Lang's identity? Individuals at their level could easily sense the strength of someone just from that one move. The purple cloaked elder knew very well that this ethereal beauty standing before him wasn't any weaker than himself. Being a stranger who was no weaker than him, along with the fact that he was part of the Four Heavenly Kings, the name 'Handsome Heavenly King' floated into his mind clearly.

"How's that for an explanation?" asked Luo Lang as he smiled beautifully.

The purple cloaked elder's eyes twitched. That beautiful smile invoked the feeling of fear within him. It was clearly a pure smile, but he could sense danger… much danger.

"I'm sorry, it's our fault." In the end, the purple cloaked elder decided to concede to not blow up this misunderstanding. Plus, Lord Zhen had already told him to not mess with them. In reality, a big part of the reason why he was being so much like a doormat was because being around Handsome Heavenly King made him feel uneasy.

"If that's the case, then all is good." As he said that, Luo Lang's right hand shook slightly, and the sharp sword in his hand disappeared like smoke.

A glint of fury flashed past the purple cloaked elder's eyes. In the end, he chose to suppress his anger that was caused by Luo Lang's flippant behaviour and turned around to leave.

'It's fine. It is fine. There is still a lot of time for my revenge in the future. There is no need to be in a hurry.'

Luo Lang watched as the purple cloaked elder left in a calm manner. Then, he calmly turned his head to the left. Just as he did that, a figure appeared beside him. Zhao Jun.

"You offended him," Zhao Jun spoke of the obvious fact.

"Why would that matter?" Luo Lang glanced at him indifferently.

"Being totally not cute. In the past, you were never this temperamental." Zhao Jun shrugged.

"In the past? Did I even have the chance to show this side of me?" Luo Lang snorted coldly. "It was all handled by Xie Yi…"

After saying that name, Luo Lang felt his heart ache. That was the truth. In the past, he would just focus on training while those annoying matters around him would be given to Xie Yi to handle. After being saved by Boss in the military academy, it seemed that he wasn't put in any troublesome situation because of his looks? Even if there were, Xie Yi would have resolved it for him before he could say a thing.

Back then, he felt Xie Yi was just being a good brother. He knew what he hated and helped him resolve it beforehand. Now that he thought about it… Were those only just things a brother would do?

Luo Lang felt his thoughts were in chaos. Ever since Xie Yi said he liked him in his last moments, it turned Luo Lang's world upside down. Now whenever he thought back to how they spent time together in the past, the things he took for granted now felt as if there was something more to them.

"Forget it, if I can't make heads or tails of it, then I just won't think about it." Luo Lang shook his head and tossed aside those messy thoughts. "I'll wait until Xie Yi returns and clears up everything."

Ever since he returned to the Lawless Lands, Boss had been hinting that there was a possibility that Xie Yi might not have died. This possibility definitely brightened up Luo Lang's dark and gloomy mind. Although Ling Lan also said after that it hadn't been confirmed yet, Luo Lang still completely trusted Ling Lan's words. He was sure that Xie Yi was alive and would definitely come back to them.

"You're right…" Zhao Jun thought of the Xie Yi, who was always around Luo Lang, and nodded in agreement.

It was just that he never expected them to ever be so helpless in a situation, so much so that Xie Yi had to sacrifice himself to turn the situation around. Luckily, Boss told them that Xie Yi should be fine, otherwise, he would have wanted to return to the Federation, barge into the military headquarters and force them to give him an explanation.

Zhao Jun wanted to say some more, but a sudden energy burst alerted him.

He and Luo Lang looked at each other and vanished almost simultaneously. Similarly, Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran followed suit.

In the next second, the four of them stepped onto the frontlines of the battlefield simultaneously. They stood in a fan-shaped formation behind Ji Ming and the other guardians.

In front of them, 12 other people stood on the opposite side of them while staring at them with emotionless gazes. The 12 people were seemingly split into two groups of people, as two distinctly different coloured uniforms were within the group. One group donned themselves in all black, while the other group wore some mildly blinding rainbow colored uniforms.

Knowing that the four of them weren't familiar with the Lawless Lands, Ji Ming quietly explained it to them. The group in all black were six out of the twelve magistrates working under Lord Li, while the blindingly colorful ones were six out of the twelve succubi working under Lord Demon.

Six succubi? After hearing those words, the four of them couldn't contain their wry expressions. Just think about it. Six men, wearing such bright colored clothing and calling themselves succubi… It indeed could make people shudder at the thought.

"Are they only sending these twelve?" Tang Ningyu was still the best at controlling his wandering thoughts and was the first to ask Ji Ming about the battle.

"Who knows." Ji Ming shook his head. "It's possible that it's just a smokescreen for their real plans. Or it could be just the twelve of them."

"Actually, the problem isn't that. Look behind the twelve of them." Ji Ming pointed behind the colourful group of people.

They saw many human-like figures standing motionless there. Despite it being far away from them, they were still able to see them clear.

"Those are mechas," Zhao Jun's eyes froze for a moment. With his calculation, he guessed that there were probably no less than 5000 mechas.

"Yeah, you actually thought this battle royale would involve us?" said Ji Ming. "It's still mostly based on the mecha battle. We are just here to supervise those mechas. At the same time, it will be convenient for us to resolve any issues with others.

"Only 5000 mechas?" The combined force of two lords only amounted to this much? For Zhao Jun, who had experienced many battles with each of them involving hundreds of thousands or millions of mechas, this wasn't anything worth his while.

"This is just to probe the power of each side," Ji Ming looked at Zhao Jun annoyedly. "The rules only allow for 5000 mechas to fight. If a real battle royale actually starts, how could there be only this little mechas? Plus, these 5000 mechas are all chosen by the two lords and all elite operators. Their proficiency with mechas topped all of their peers."

"There actually rules for how many mechas are allowed…" Zhao Jun felt that this type of battle was just like playing a game. It didn't feel real at all. The rush of bloodshed and slaughter wasn't there for him.

"It is the promise made between the 13 Lords, and it must be followed. Other than that, everything else is real," Ji Ming said calmly. When he first entered the Lawless Lands in the past, he also believed this was just a game or show. However, after experiencing countless battles and seeing countless people bleed and die, he realized that it was only considered a game for the 13 Lords. However, for those working for them, each battle was fought with their lives on the line. No one knew who was going to return alive.

After seemingly understanding the meaning behind Ji Ming's words, Zhao Jun, who was originally nonchalant, had a more serious look on his face.

"I just don't understand. If the 13 Lords are in a harmonious relationship with each other, why do they need to start a battle royale every year and needlessly waste their subordinates' lives?" Tang Ningyu, who was listening from the side, asked as he frowned. He couldn't accept this way of governing. It was as though other than the 13 Lords, everyone else were no different than ants.

Ji Ming didn't answer. As a spy, he knew very well why that was the case. They were doing it to make a show for the other nations. However, whether these shows were for the benefit of the Lawless Lands or for something else, he didn't know.

"It's probably to sow seeds," Mu Chaoran thought for a moment and replied.

"Sowing seeds?" Luo Lang looked towards Mu Chaoran with a perplexed look on his face.

"Although being cut off from the rest of the universe, basically stunting its growth, it still managed to ensure outsiders from taking over," Mu Chaoran spoke out what he was thinking. "We're born into uncertainty and die in peace. These words although don't fit the situation on the Lawless Lands, it still has merit to it. Without outside danger, people would devolve into something like cattle, causing people in the Lawless Lands to lose their savagery and terrifying battle potential. Aren't the nations in the center of the galaxy most afraid of the Lawless Lands' battle potential? Once they lose that… the Lawless Lands will lose everything."

"Without pressure from the outside, in order to maintain the battle strength, they could only start these needless battles between themselves." Mu Chaoran's words also enlightened Tang Ningyu. Tang Ningyu then followed up, "Through periodic battles, the battle strength of the people of the Lawless Lands could be preserved. It could also let them evolve and advance in the battlefield, eliminating the weak and preserving the stronger."

Mu Chaoran and Tang Ningyu's words shocked Luo Lang. Was that the truth behind it all?

The 13 Lords started many wars not only to put on a show for the nations in the center of the galaxy. They were also doing this to sharpen the fangs of the Lawless Lands?

"That explanation makes sense," Zhao Jun said plainly. "Otherwise, there would be no way to explain it."

"But, in the end, aren't they just killing each other?" asked Luo Lang. Was that actually a good reason for these battles? Luo Lang, who always followed his own instincts, wasn't comfortable with the decision the 13 Lords had made.

"Yeah, no matter how good the reason, it's still fighting and killing amongst themselves." Mu Chaoran's expression was somewhat ice cold. When those in power make such decisions, they would usually do it without any remorse.

1393 Uninvited Gues

While they were speaking, the mecha group on the opponent's side suddenly had someone roar at the top of their lungs. At the same time, the mecha group on their side also did the same in response.

Ji Ming's eyes narrowed. "The mecha battle has begun."

As Ji Ming's word left his mouth, the mecha group behind them suddenly moved out. The opposing side also did the same.

"It began just like that?" Luo Lang was stunned. He thought that the guardians, enforcers, magistrates and devils would fight first and then the mecha battle would start.

"Then how do you want it go?" Ji Ming said helplessly. "A mecha battle with 10 thousands mechas. We can't do anything in such a large scale fight. They have their own way of battling, after all."

"I know, but don't wars require strategy? Staring just like this…" Even Luo Lang, who didn't like to use his brain, felt this way of fighting was too crude.

"These are our best mecha operators. They don't need to show any strategy, they just need to show their power," explained Ji Ming. "As for strategy, we leave that to the other mecha armies."

"Where are they?" Tang Ningyu looked around them. Other than their group, along with the mecha army that had already met up with their opponents, he didn't see anyone else.

"The battlefield for strategy isn't here." Ji Ming pointed towards a tall mountain towards their left. "Behind that mountain, there is an extremely large field. Mecha armies from our side are all within that battlefield. What they need to do there is to survive for three days, which is quite a difficult goal."

"Luckily, it's Nameless who is leading the army. He's one of the 12 guardians. He reached this position not because of his physical skills, but because of his mecha piloting. He's the best at piloting among the 12 of us and has reached imperial level."

"Imperial level? Can't he already fight on par with imperial realm formidable warriors with some of the 13 Lords? If he is that strong, why doesn't he just create his own organization," Mu Chaoran said in surprise. Why would such a strong person willingly stay under Lord Gen's faction? It didn't make sense.

"You really think an imperial operator could fight against an imperial realm formidable warrior?" Ji Ming laughed coldly. "I watched with my own eyes an imperial operator getting insta-killed against an imperial realm formidable warrior."

"It's because of the mechas!" Zhao Jun could guess the reason why.

"Correct. The mechas in the Lawless Lands are essentially crap. The true source of an imperial operator's strength is their mecha, without their mecha, they are just an empty husk. Plus, for an imperial mecha to fight on par with an imperial realm formidable warrior, they would need a top-class imperial mecha. Fighting without one, would just be a matter of how long can they hold for." Ji Ming sighed.

The other three finally understood the meaning behind Ji Ming's earlier words. On an equal playing field, the two could indeed fight on par. However, in the Lawless Lands, it was impossible. This was why the 13 Lords could sit calmly on their thrones. Even if a mecha operator was strong, without mechas to facilitate them, they still wouldn't be able to stand on the same level as the 13 Lords.

This explained why this Nameless imperial operator was among the 12 guardians of the rainbow palace. It wasn't because he didn't want to leave, but rather he didn't dare to leave. Especially after having a new Lord Gen. They still didn't know Ling Lan's real personality. None of them knew whether she was a merciless individual who would rather destroy them than to give them their freedom.

While they were speaking, the mixture of magistrates and succubi finally couldn't wait anymore.

"Blind Bitch Ji, come out." A forty-year-old or so black cloaked man with a cold expression on his face suddenly called out Ji Ming.

Ji Ming immediately raised his head and instantly laughed. "Oh hey, it's Black Sh*t."

"I previously said one of these days I will take your life, and I'm telling you now that that day has come. Come out and die." The black-cloaked man named Black Dirt, had a huge grudge against Ji Ming. From the way they called each other nicknames, it showed that they were already unable to handle each other's presence. It was just that in the past, when the 13 Lords were in good relations, they didn't have the chance to resolve this grudge. However, today, as enemies, they finally could start this life-or-death battle.

"Heh, I can say the same to you," Ji Ming's eyes narrowed. He stepped forward and reached the center area.

Black Dirt flashed forward and appeared in front of Ji Ming.

"Their killing intent is very strong." Zhao Jun frowned. "Are they really fighting to the death?"

"Of course. They wouldn't stop until one side dies." Yu Shangfei, who had been silent for the entire time, began explaining it for them.

"I always thought the numbers of guardians, enforcers, magistrates, succubi and others are always set in stone. They would fight and at one point, they would stop. After all, you all are considered the most trusted subordinates of the lords. They wouldn't let you die easily," Luo Lang was surprised.

"Indeed, the amount of guardians doesn't change. If someone dies, there would just be someone new to replace them. There are so many capable and strong people below us who are all wishing that we would die sooner," said Yu Shangfei.

This was the real situation with working under the 13 Lords. No one knew when they would die in the battlefield. Even the 12 guardians couldn't escape an outcome like that.

Luo Lang and the others could feel the mercilessness of the Lawless Lands from Yu Shangfei's words. If these people were in the central galaxy, with their capabilities, even if they couldn't become leaders of an organization, they would still become esteemed guests of such organizations. They would enjoy the privileges of the elites. Even if they were unlucky, they would still be able to live peacefully somewhere until they grow old. However, in the Lawless Lands, these people didn't know how many tomorrows they had. Perhaps, today was their last day in this world.

Although Luo Lang and the others wanted to get more information about the Lawless Lands, their opponents didn't allow them to as they invited them to fight to the death. They would fight until they could no longer fight. Of course, if someone was so weak, then they deserved to die.

At that moment, in the Li Fire Palace thousands of miles away, an uninvited guest appeared.

This uninvited guest entered without being asked to go in.

Lord Li, who was lying on his bed with his eyes closed while enjoying the service of his female servants, suddenly opened his eyes. He looked towards the empty hall and said coldly, "Since you are here, then why don't you show yourself."

After those words were said, a silhouette slowly condensed out of the air. He wore a bright red cloak around him, but had a cold aura around him. The two extremes were actually oddly a good blend. When paired with that face, which was the epitome of human beauty, even rarely seen in books, it made Lord Li feel that the colours of the world solely existed for that one person.