1418 - 1430

1418 Curious!

"It seems we found something by sheer luck that others would search far and wide for." Ling Lan's gaze fell upon the bushes and forest beside her.

The leader of those hidden saw that one of the three mechas looked towards their direction and his heart skipped a beat.

Were they discovered?

Before he could determine that fact, he heard that mecha that was looking in their direction shouted, "Come out."

Was it a ruse? Or were they actually discovered?

The leader was hesitant. He didn't know whether to go out to fight or continue to hide.

Everyone else was waiting for their leader's orders. Their hands were already on the control stick waiting for their leader to give the order to attack. Once their leader ordered an attack, they would rush towards the three mechas and surround them.

The reason mecha scavengers could survive so long in the Kamoda district was because no one could hold anything over them. The job of a mecha scavenger was a brutal one. They would either take out those who discovered them or escape with their tails between their legs. If they couldn't escape, they would immediately self-destruct to not allow any information of scavenger organization to be leaked out.

Not knowing why, the leader of that group kept feeling that the three mechas standing before them were dangerous. He thought for a moment before deciding to bet on the fact that it was just a ruse.

Ling Lan saw no activity in the forest and looked towards Li Lanfeng.

Without being given any orders, Li Lanfeng knew what Ling Lan meant. He took out the beam gun from his back and instantly pointed it towards the forest.

It wasn't a ruse! They were actually going to attack.

The leader of the scavengers immediately ordered, "Attack."

If they hid anymore, they would be idiots. The opposition was clearly going to attack the place they were hiding at to get them out of that position by force.

After that order was given, six mechas jumped out of the forest from different positions. They were very well coordinated with each other. They split into two groups of three and attacked Ling Lan and Li Lanfeng, who were closest to their position.

Seeing this, Li Lanfeng walked in a 'Z' shape and dodged the attack of the first mecha. At the same time, the beam gun had already become a large sword.

Bang! The large sword instantly blocked the attacks from the other two mechas.

The attack was the accumulation of force of two mechas, but Li Lanfeng blocked it with ease. Not only did he not budge from it, he also used the force of the block to send the two mechas attacking him to fly backwards.

On the other side, Ling Lan saw three people come towards her. She didn't pull out her sword but instead, backed up quickly, instantly dodging the attacks.

How could those three people be willing to give up on their pursuit? After seeing Ling Lan dodge backwards, they piloted their mechas and instantly followed up to attack.

Bang! Their attacks were finally blocked by a large sword.

'Did that person finally make a move?'

The three of them looked past their weapons. The mecha they were originally attacking was already 20 to 30 meters away from them. The one that blocked them was actually the third mecha on the other side of the battlefield. When did he arrive?

They originally wanted to use their position to their advantage to quickly take out the two closer mechas. After taking the two of them out, they would then go all out on the mechas furthest away from them. That was why when the third mecha appeared in front of them in the blink of an eye, these three scavengers couldn't believe their eyes.

"Your opponent is me." They heard a voice coming from that mecha. That person spoke with a nonchalant tone, as if he didn't see them as a threat.

Despite the mechas of the scavengers looking so so and even somewhat dilapidated, they were definitely still not any weaker than standard mechas after being modified by the top-class engineers of the scavenger organization. These people piloting these mecha were also experienced ace mecha operators. Despite not being comparable to the elite ace operator armies under the 13 Lords, they were still not any weaker when compared to operators from standard armies. In fact, they were even a bit stronger than the standard ones.

In order to survive, these scavengers were much more shameless than mecha operators. Thus, their fighting style was more towards the despicable and dirty side.

Thus, if their opponent looked down on them, they wouldn't become angry. Instead, they would be happy. They were used to grasping any advantage they could get, and one of those advantages was when their opponent would look down on them, they would surprise them with unexpected strength.

Perhaps, the reason the scavenger organization made the outer appearance of the mechas so dilapidated was with this reason in mind. It was perhaps that they wanted their opponents to think of them as weak.

The three of them quickly backed up slowly. They didn't try to split up to go after Ling Lan. Instead, they surrounded this new mecha while trying to find a chance to destroy it.

Although they didn't know why the other mecha didn't want to join the fight, they still wouldn't refuse such an advantage for them, right? Were they going to be stupid and split one person to attack that one person? No!

Interesting!

Luo Lang excitedly licked his lips. The display on his mecha's display was showing the area around him in a full 360 degrees, allowing Luo Lang to have complete vision of his opponents' movement.

They suddenly pounce towards him with unexpected strength!

Luo Lang shifted sideways and dodged the extremely well hidden knife from the first mecha. At the same time, the large sword in his hands swung backwards to slash at the mecha attacking him from above.

Luo Lang's heavy slash came too suddenly, but the mecha operator attacking from above was a still veteran after all. After seeing the sword slash coming right at him, his engine throttled to instantly stop him from dropping any further downwards. He forcefully stopped his mecha in mid-air as he prepared to dodge the sword slash.

"Nice try," Luo Lang laughed softly. The large sword he originally swung backwards, suddenly flew out of his hands to fly towards the dodging mecha.

"Look out." The third mecha was originally going to attack Luo Lang from the ground. After seeing the sword in the air, he could only give up on his original plan. He temporarily switched the focus from Luo Lang to the flying sword. He was attempting to bring down the sword.

Bang! His large sword struck down Luo Lang's sword.

At that moment, Luo Lang took one step and arrived next to the location where his sword was struck down. He quickly picked it up and swung it towards one direction.

This time, he was attacking the mecha that he evaded in the beginning.

This was unexpected as Luo Lang recovered pretty quickly. It could be said that when Luo Lang tossed out his large sword, everyone believed he had lost his chance to beat them. How could they have known Luo Lang did all that to attack that one mecha?

The large sword forcibly swept that mecha. The immense force instantly sent that mecha flying. It smashed into the ground and skidded on the ground for more than 10 meters before stopping.

After seeing their comrade being struck down, the other two mechas actually didn't panic. They didn't choose to go save their comrade, but rather continued attacking from two blind spots, one from above and one from below, before Luo Lang could recover from his previous attack.

It could be said that when their comrade had taken a hit, these two were still able to calmly choose the best position of attack. This type of mentality proved these mecha operators weren't ordinary people.

After watching to this point, Ling Lan couldn't help but raise her eyebrows. She was now somewhat curious about this group of mecha operators.

1419 Speaking With Someone Who Is Smar

"Don't kill them," Ling Lan ordered decisively.

Luo Lang was originally planning on destroying one of the mechas. After hearing Ling Lan's orders, he immediately stopped his sword mid-slash. Instead, he began to evade the flurry of swords coming at him.

Afterimages of Luo Lang's mecha were formed. With unbelievable movements, he managed to escape from the pincer attack of the two mechas from his two blind spots.

At the same time, without any prior preparations, he used the strength of his arms to execute a True Whirlwind Strike.

This was considered a special technique which was done with no signs of preparations. The explosive nature made it impossible to defend against.

The unexpected attack made the two mechas unable to evade in a timely manner.

Bang! Bang! The two of them were struck by the large sword in the whirlwind. The two mechas flew backwards before smashing to the ground.

Luo Lang closely chased after them. The large sword in his hand ruthlessly slashed towards the mecha closest to him.

He chose to slash at the chest of the mecha because he remembered Boss's orders. The hip area and the cockpit were connected to the operator's lifeline. If he wished to finish them in one hit, he would choose to hit them either on the hip or cockpit first but this time, he was not gunning for that.

The chest was where the engine was situated. Once that was destroyed, it would turn the mecha into a giant piece of junk. It was clear that attacking them on the chest was the best choice if they wanted to leave them alive. However, the chest was where it was the most fortified. If the power of the attack wasn't stronger than its defensive strength, then the attack wouldn't do anything to it.

However, for Luo Lang, it wasn't a difficult thing to do, especially when he was piloting a mecha Chang Xinyuan had modified for the brigade leaders, no, regiment commanders. All of its specifications were not far off from top-class imperial mechas.

Luo Lang's attack was quick, giving his opponent no chance to react. Right as he was about to land his attack, a white light suddenly shot out from the forest. It moved towards Luo Lang's back.

A sneak attack!

Luo Lang seemed to not have realized it as he continued to slash his large sword down towards the mecha below him.

Bang! The large sword struck the chest area of the mecha below Luo Lang, causing sparks to fly. The armor on the chest of the mecha was instantly cut open, showing the metal parts and wiring with sparks flying out.

It was a clear indication of Luo Lang achieving what he wanted to do.

When that white light was about to hit Luo Lang's mecha, it was suddenly intercepted by another white light. It didn't harm Luo Lang's mecha one bit.

The person who made a move was Ling Lan. Luo Lang trusted that Boss would definitely protect him, and Ling Lan was definitely not going to stand by and watch as his underling got ambushed.

After achieving the desired result, Luo Lang stomped on the ground with his mecha's right leg. His mecha then flew up in the air and the large sword in his hand ruthlessly slashed towards the other mecha that was preparing to stand up.

Right as Luo Lang's sword reached that mecha, a large mecha suddenly rushed out of the forest with a sharp spear. The sharp spear pointed its tip towards Luo Lang's mecha's cockpit.

Bang!

A loud bang was heard. The force behind the spear was astounding. The entire ground actually shook which caused dust to fly up into the air, lowering the visibility of the area.

Immediately after, there was another loud 'bang' followed by the sound of cracked metal.

After the dust slowly settled, the scene in front of them could finally be seen clearly.

Ling Lan was on one knee, with her right hand pushing down a mecha onto the ground. The mecha Ling Lan held down was flailing its limbs, struggling to get up. However, no matter what it did, it couldn't get out from the seemingly weak hold of her right hand.

In front of Ling Lan, Luo Lang stood there with one hand holding his sword hilt downwards. The tip of the large sword had already stabbed into the chest of the mecha laying on the ground. It was clear that it passed through the mecha and stabbed into the ground.

In just an instant, these people took out two of their mechas. When their leader appeared, he was also held down by the opponent using only one hand with no chance of fighting back.

No matter if it was the three mechas that were fighting Li Lanfeng, or the mecha that Luo Lang had sent flying earlier, all stopped fighting immediately. They all fixated their gaze on Ling Lan in unplanned unison and their disheveled leader. They could only stand there and watch.

He was undoubtedly the strongest out of all them to be able to become their leader. However, their strongest mecha operator couldn't even go one round with the opponent and was even easily held down by them. This difference in power made these scavengers understand that these three mecha operators weren't ordinary mecha operators. No, they weren't even part of the strongest elite ace operators working under the 13 Lords… Were they some of the legendary imperial operators who guarded the 13 Lords?

They were all veterans in the Lawless Lands, so they clearly knew of the exalt status of imperial operators in the Lawless Lands. In reality, there were quite a lot of imperial operators in the Lawless Lands. However, each of them were considered to be their own boss. These imperial operators were known to the public as the strongest individuals after the 13 Lords.

These imperial operators were much stronger than those titled domain realm formidable warriors. Titled domain realm formidable warriors were at most the guards or butlers of the 13 Lords and were still considered servants. However, imperial operators, other than those under factions, had signed contracts with the 13 Lords to cooperate. Even if one was to join the ranks of the 13 Lords, they would be given the status of guests to the 13 Lords. Not only would they have actual power, they would also be given the freedom that everyone in the Lawless Lands hoped to acquire.

An imperial operator was enough to take out their entire scavenger team, not to mention three of them. No matter how many people they had, it wouldn't be enough for these three to play around with.

Mecha scavengers were people who would lower their dignity to the strong, because they knew what they had to do to survive in this harsh environment. When they realized that they couldn't win, they wouldn't waste time and would just beg for their lives instead.

The leader of the group struggled for a moment. After discovering that he indeed didn't have any chance to escape, he stopped, surrendered and smiled bitterly. "Duke, I surrender. I won't try to escape. If you have anything you want to ask, I will definitely cooperate, so can you please let me go?���

'Duke' was the respectful way of calling imperial operators in the Lawless Lands. It was a show of status.

While the leader was struggling, he still calmly contacted his two comrades who had been struck. After discovering they were alive, being the smart man he was, he quickly guessed what Ling Lan and them wanted from them. This leader decisively chose to cooperate since their lives were in their opponents' hands.

Mecha scavengers didn't want to die unless they couldn't escape from it. It was because there were still family members who needed them to take care. They couldn't just die like that.

"You're very smart. I like speaking with smart people," Ling Lan said indifferently while loosening her right hand. She then slowly piloted her mecha to stand up.

1420 Partners?

The leader of the scavengers, who was just given back his freedom, quickly crawled up to a standing position. He looked around to discover that the other two opposing mechas had already blocked off all their routes of escape. It seemed like he needed to put down the idea of running away.

The leader sighed in his mind and spoke up with sincerity in his tone, "Duke, please ask your questions."

"Where are you from, who are you, and why are you here?" Ling Lan asked the three basic questions. She needed to understand who these people are and what they were doing here.

With mechas that looked like a mess with patches and spare parts of mechas of other models being jumbled together, they definitely weren't from mecha armies under the 13 Lords. The mecha armies of the 13 Lords would definitely not have any mechas that seemed so dilapidated.

Ling Lan carefully studied the mechas in front of her. Their mechas looked rough around the edges from all the repairs, however in fights, the power their mecha showed and their defensive strength was not any weaker than the official mechas from the Federation. This proved that behind these mecha operators, there was an expert modification master, and behind the expert modification master was an entity that could gather this many exceptional mecha operators and an expert modification masters. No matter if they were an organization or not, their power wasn't something that they could ignore.

The leader of the scavengers hesitated, he was in a dilemma. If he were to expose the scavenger organization behind them, they wouldn't be able to live a good life even if they were to return back alive. However, if he didn't tell them, he wasn't sure whether it would anger these three people standing before them which might cause their death.

The reason he brought these people out here to take such risk was to feed their families, and he wanted to bring them home safely.

The leader knew very well about the situation of his underlings' families. They couldn't afford to die. Once they passed on, their family members probably wouldn't be able to continue to live in this dog-eat-dog world that was the Lawless Lands, not to mention there was even a first-time scavenger he needed to be responsible for. A young man like him had unlimited potential in the future. If he just died here, it would be very unfortunate.

The leader thought about it for a moment, sorting out in his mind about the details he could spill. "We are mecha scavengers. In every battle royale, we would come here and look for mecha parts that could be exchanged for money."

"Mecha scavengers?" This answer surprised Ling Lan. She didn't expect a profession like this to come up in the Lawless Lands.

"There's a battle royale every year. In every royale, there would be losers and winners. According to the rules, anything the losers left on the battlefield would belong to the victors as spoils of war. For example, these destroyed mechas would be cleaned up by the victors after the battle royale," explained the leader of scavengers. "We on the other hand would sneak into the battlefield, using the small time window before the victors could come to clean up to pick a few parts to sell. We would then go to the black market and exchange them for some daily necessities or money."

"We don't have a choice but to do this risky job. There's elders and children at home who can't feed themselves. They need us to make money to live, and they are still barely scraping by. In the Lawless Lands, if a person wanted to make money, other than putting their lives on the line, everything else was suicide. We can't die. The fates of so many people on our shoulders…" The bitter sadness in his tone showed that they were forced to do this job.

"So you mean you found out about this money making scheme accidentally?" asked Ling Lan.

"Yes." The leader nodded.

"Your mechas are modified quite well, huh?" Ling Lan suddenly changed the subject of the conversation.

"Huh?" The leader of the scavengers could grasp the underlying intention behind Ling Lan's words in that moment.

"Although your mechas are visually disgusting, the different parts actually melded together quite well. The modifications done on the mecha aren't lowering the specs of the mecha at all," said Ling Lan with a half-smile on her face. "And the defensive strength of your mecha is tough even with all the patches and repairs."

The leader of the scavengers could feel his heart tightening up. At that moment, he didn't know how to respond.

"I'm sure you know what that means, right?" Ling Lan said calmly.

"Um, what does it mean?" the leader could only follow the conversation and ask.

"The person who modified your mechas is a master-level engineer. You guys are quite lucky to randomly have such a big shot working with you," Ling Lan said sarcastically as she smiled slightly.

"Haha, yeah, we really are lucky." The leader could only pretend to play dumb until the end. In the cockpit, he was already completely soaked through and through with cold sweat. It was because he knew he could no longer lie to the opponent. Most mecha operators wouldn't focus on mecha modifications. How could he have known that this imperial operator standing before him was knowledgeable enough about mecha modifications to see through the secrets of their mechas' repairs with just one look?

They were too unlucky!

"You guys are part of an organization." Ling Lan didn't need that leader's answer to conclude that. From the way the leader answered her questions, she had more or less already confirmed this. That was why Ling Lan said it as a statement and not a question.

The leader had been afraid he would expose the organization. However, after the opposition made it clear, it was as though a tense string had snapped, allowing him to finally feel relieved, causing him to lay flat in his cockpit.

Ling Lan didn't hear a response, but not answering could also be an answer.

"A mecha scavenger organization. The mechas you bring back would be handled by them. They would then give a certain price for the quality of the mecha you have brought to them… Members like yourselves would then also receive some benefits from the alliance or organization, such as mecha modifications." Ling Lan continued, "This would explain why your mechas had signs of a master-level modification engineer's work on them."

The leader of the scavengers was completely speechless. Just in a few sentences, the opponent had already exposed the inner workings of their organization.

"Yes, perhaps, you appearing here is also because your alliance or organization had given you the coordinates, and these coordinates would require money or points to redeem…" Leader of scavengers went through a myriad of expressions the longer Ling Lan spoke. It was because what Ling Lan said was the complete truth. He felt relieved that he wouldn't have to expose the organization, but he was getting more fearful of this imperial operator standing before him.

"That's interesting." Ling Lan was quite happy. After entering the Kamoda district, she no longer had any intel, and with the fact that she couldn't get in contact with Zhao Jun and the other two, she was going in blind. She could only fly around like a headless fly and hope a blind cat like her could encounter a dead mouse. She didn't think they would be so lucky not to encounter a dead mouse, but rather a fat and lively rat.

It was clear that in the Mecha Scavenger Organization, had intel about the other battlefields, and this intel was indeed what Ling Lan needed the most at this moment.

There was once a saying that would say that war was fought with logistics, but intel was essential for winning a war.

Ling Lan put much importance on the intel that could determine the win or loss of a battle. That was why Ling Lan decided right then and there to turn towards a different direction. They would go and meet with this secretive Mecha Scavenger Organization.

Ling Lan believed that the Mecha Scavenger Organization definitely didn't just have intel about the situation in the Kamoda district. This was an organization that managed to perfectly dismantle mechas from the battlefield, silently sell them without showing any flaws on the markets of the Lawless Lands, and not be discovered by the 13 Lords in all these years. Its power and roots were definitely planted firmly into the Lawless Lands.

Perhaps, they would be a suitable partner to cooperate with.

1421 Disappear!

Ling Lan waited for the leader to reply. The leader tried his best to gather his strength and forced an awkward smile on his face. He said weakly, "Everything I said was normal. Why does Duke think this way?"

Even if he was to die, he needed to know the reason.

Ling Lan replied nonchalantly, "That's because you were too composed. This isn't the attitude of someone without a backing."

The leader was enlightened. All in all, they were too careless. Lone scavengers wouldn't be as daring as them. They wouldn't have left any traces of them, especially when they realised that someone was coming closer. For their own safety, they should escape as far away as possible as soon as they notice someone.

Ling Lan pouted her lips secretly. She had read many novels in her past life. The situation here was the standard configuration of such an organisation. It would be hard for her to not think of it.

"The rules of the Mecha Scavenger Organization are very strict. If you take me away, we might never be able to work there anymore." The leader changed his attitude and started acting pitiful.

Ling Lan didn't reply to him. She just raised her head and looked at Li Lanfeng who was at her side.

Li Lanfeng raised his beam gun and aimed it at the forehead of the leader. It was obvious that Ling Lan was warning him. If he didn't agree, none of them would be able to stay alive.

The leader started getting anxious when he saw this. In the end, he gritted his teeth and said, "You can follow us secretly. We will not be aware."

Ling Lan didn't reply to him. She silently disagreed with his suggestion.

The leader took a deep breath and said resolutely, "If you don't accept, kill us."

If they blatantly brought them to the Mecha Scavenger Organization, they would forever be on the hit-list of the organization. When that happens, not only them, but their families would also get implicated. The leader knew clearly the methods of the Mecha Scavenger Organization. He wasn't willing to harm his family members so he would rather end this here. Maybe the organisation might take care of his family since he worked up and made many contributions in the past.

Although the leader made a decision, he was still perturbed. No one would want to die if they didn't have to. This was his thought. His brothers were having the same thought too.

Just as the leader was feeling despair because Ling Lan hadn't replied to him, he heard Ling Lan's voice. "Okay." It sounded like a nightingale.

The leader was elated at the sudden new lease on life. He quickly gathered his companions who were still able to move and picked up the two mechas that Luo Lang had damaged badly. They also carried a mecha they had laid their eyes on with them. Then, they started going back to their base camp.

As for Ling Lan and her comrades, they followed behind the mecha scavengers secretly.

Kamoda was huge. Ling Lan and her comrades flew for two hours before finally arriving at the mountainous portion of the district.

The leader was very cooperative. He took a short rest at the side of a mountain before rushing towards the mountain as though he wanted to slam into it. Then, he disappeared entirely.

The other mechas followed the leader and all the mechas disappeared right in front of Ling Lan and her comrades' eyes the same way.

Ling Lan waited for a moment before controlling her mecha and flying over. By this time, they had all activated the newest generation chameleon system equipped on their mechas. The chameleon system was able to stimulate the dynamics of their environment. It allowed Ling Lan and her comrades' mechas to appear invisible while they were moving using dynamic simulation while also blocking radar searches.

Of course, the new generation of the chameleon system wasn't perfect. The mecha was moving so it would naturally produce heat. Thus, if their enemy used infrared detectors, they would still be able to notice them.

However, there were problems with infrared detectors too. Due to the environment, radiation, as well as the heat produced a human, it would taint the environment which would affect the result of the infrared detectors. Among all the tracking devices, infrared detectors suffered from the most amount of errors. Thus, most places wouldn't use this kind of outdated and problematic device. They preferred the universal and accurate radar detector.

Li Lanfeng walked to the hillside where the mecha scavengers had disappeared and inspected it carefully. He also used all the devices equipped on his mecha to search the area. The three mechas were well-equipped with tracking devices. They had all kinds of systems, including the heat detectors that were given up by most people.

As the results of the search flashed on his screen, Li Lanfeng's fingers started flying over his control panel. Using his spiritual power, numerous amounts of data reflected through his eyes furiously.

Luo Lang looked at Ling Lan standing calmly at the side with Li Lanfeng standing motionlessly at the hillside. He couldn't help but asked curiously, "Boss, why aren't we looking for the door?"

Waiting here without doing anything wasn't a good plan.

"There's no need to hurry. Let Lanfeng analyse his data first. Maybe we'll get an answer soon," Ling Lan replied calmly. She trusted Li Lanfeng's capabilities, especially when it comes to data.

Of course, if Little Four was here, Ling Lan would definitely take charge herself. It wasn't because she trusted Little Four more. As an intelligent entity, Little Four's speed at solving this kind of problem was much faster than a human. This was the advantage of his kind. Even if Li Lanfeng's talent in virtual data exceeded the boundaries of a human, when compared to Little Four who was an amalgamation of data himself, he was incomparable.

They didn't have to wait too long as Li Lanfeng's stable voice was heard. "I found it."

"What is it?" Luo Lang was impatient so he asked anxiously.

"Actually, it's similar to our chameleon system. There's a door here but the door is disguised as part of the mountain," Li Lanfeng explained.

"So we just slam into it directly?" Luo Lang was excited to try.

"Well, if you want to alert the people inside, you can do that," Li Lanfeng mocked him.

"I see. Is there a mechanism here or do we need a passcode to open the door?" Luo Lang appeared enlightened. He was a little slow so he didn't realize that Li Lanfeng was teasing him.

Li Lanfeng took a deep breath. Sometimes, talking to simple-minded people wasn't very fun.

He turned and said to Ling Lan, "I've already deciphered the passcode. However, I'm not sure about the situation behind the door. Do you think they will take the chance to lay an ambush or they may have gone to inform the Mecha Scavenger Organization directly?"

"They won't inform the organization. They will never lay an ambush too." Ling Lan shook her head. "If they do that, they will just expose themselves. They had already shown they rather die than to get exposed. Now, they won't do it either."

"I'm just worried that there might be guards behind the door." Ling Lan was more worried about this. Once the door was opened, if there were guards inside, they would definitely be discovered.

Before she understood how deep the waters of the Mecha Scavenger Organization was, Ling Lan didn't want to alert her enemies.

"We can only take the risk," Li Lanfeng said calmly.

"Of course. We can't give up halfway." Ling Lan had her worries but this wouldn't affect her initial decision. However, when she was executing her plan, she would try her best to think of all the dangers so that they would be well-prepared.

1422 Evolved!

The three of them knew that once they entered through the door, they might be walking into a lion's den. But, they were all soldiers who had fought through many hard-fought battles. This slight problem wasn't enough to stop them from achieving their goal, which was to obtain more intel about the situation in the Kamoda district.

Ling Lan nodded at Li Lanfeng. After being given the approval to go forward, Li Lanfeng touched the hillside and told Ling Lan and Luo Lang, "Follow behind me closely."

After he finished speaking, he took a huge step and entered the door. Ling Lan followed him without any hesitation. Luo Lang brought up the rear.

The three of them rushed towards the hillside. Then, they disappeared mysteriously.

The moment they entered through the hillside, all they saw an extremely expansive tunnel. Luckily, there were no guards but Ling Lan quickly noticed that there were numerous surveillance cameras hidden behind the ceiling of the tunnel.

Fortunately, Ling Lan and her comrades had turned on the chameleon system before coming in. The moment they entered the tunnel, the chameleon system almost instantaneously changed the colour of the mecha according to its surroundings, allowing the mechas to blend with the background of the environment. This might be useless against perceptive domain realm masters but it was enough to tackle these rigid machines.

Still, to keep the energy fluctuations to the minimum, the three of them changed their mecha control system to manual mode. While doing so, they switch the full throttle mode of their engine to the less energy consuming mode, minimal energy mode.

In minimal energy mode, besides the energy needed to ensure that the mecha systems continued working, all the ease of use functions were turned off. The movement of the mecha relied entirely on manual control.

This kind of control would allow the heat emission of the mecha to get close to zero, preventing them from being caught by infrared detectors.

"Boss, there's a laser security system in the tunnel." Luo Lang activated his radar scanner and saw multiple red lines scattered in the tunnel. They formed a complex structure with almost no holes, essentially forming a large web over the entire tunnel.

"Let's test your fundamental skill," Ling Lan said calmly. After saying that, she maneuvered her mecha through the laser web with much agility.

"Haha, how can I be beaten by this?" Luo Lang was unwilling to admit defeat so he followed Ling Lan and passed through the web with comparable amounts of agility.

Li Lanfeng shook his head and followed behind them.

Actually, in their eyes, this kind of defensive system was nothing to them. They were able to pass through it even when they were in their second or third year of being a scout.

They were so easy to intrude that the Federation gave up this kind of defensive system centuries ago. Most would only see this kind of low-level defensive systems in their history lessons. Yet, in the Lawless Lands, this system still existed. So, it was quite an interesting experience to Ling Lan and her comrades who were able to see and experience it personally for themselves.

Although this was an easy obstacle, the three of them didn't get complacent. Instead, they became even more cautious the more they got deeper into the tunnel. The simpler something seemed, the more complicated it might be. Luo Lang might not think this way but Ling Lan, who liked to think deeper into matters, and Li Lanfeng, who naturally liked to overthink, definitely thought about this possibility.

Luckily, no problems occurred during their journey. The three of them came to the exit successfully. However, to their surprise, they saw many guard mechas there.

Ling Lan was surprised for a moment. But, soon, she understood why the other party made this arrangement.

The best time to ambush someone was when they just entered through the door. But, it was also the hardest time for the guards to differentiate a friend from a foe, especially when people entered through the door using the passcode. The guards wouldn't be able to make an accurate judgment instantly. By the time they could differentiate the enemy, it would be too late to attack them.

The enemy however, wouldn't need to make such judgment. They could just start shooting blindly the moment they entered through the door. The result was clear. Before the guards at the door could react, they would be killed by their enemies.

To prevent these unnecessary deaths from happening, the Mecha Scavenger Organization shifted their guards to the exit. They also placed some surveillance equipment and a low-level laser defensive system in the tunnel. This would give the guards enough time to understand the situation inside the tunnel and prepare themselves.

Once intruders were found, they would be attacked in all directions when they reached the exit. In this case, the intruders would be the ones who didn't have the time to react, not the guards.

This was a good arrangement. But, there was a major weakness. The guards were too dependent on the surveillance equipment, if they couldn't detect the intruders like them, they could easily bypass every security checkpoint.

"They are the scavengers from a moment ago," Li Lanfeng reminded them through their earpiece.

"Boss, what do we do?" Luo Lang always listened to Boss's orders.

"Don't stop. Pass through them directly. Don't alert the guards." While Ling Lan gave her order, her hands didn't stop moving. She controlled her mecha to fly towards the exit.

Luo Lang didn't understand why they were doing this but he was someone who firmly believed in Boss's orders. Thus, he instantly executed the order and followed behind Ling Lan's footsteps.

Li Lanfeng thought for a split second and roughly understood the meaning of Ling Lan's order. He smiled and followed them decisively.

The leader who brought them in was discussing something with the chief of the guards. Mechas had their own personal channels so Ling Lan and her comrades couldn't hear what they were saying. But, she could tell that the mechas weren't on their guards.

This showed that the leader didn't betray them.

This was why Ling Lan dared to fly past them. The guards didn't notice them and the leader who brought them in had attracted the attention of the guards. This was definitely a good chance for them to sneak in.

However, it was extremely difficult to find a way to sneak past these mechas which were standing disorderly. There might not be an easy route to go pass them.

The distance between each mecha might not be big enough for a mecha to pass through. It meant that there was no way they could smuggle themselves in.

In reality, this was what happened.

The mechas looked as though they just chose to stand in their positions casually but if you looked at them carefully, you would see that all their positions were extremely planned out. No matter which route you take, you would reach a dead end.

The person who arranged this arrangement was an expert.

Li Lanfeng, who was good at scheming, noticed the problem the moment he got near the mechas. When he saw that, the spark in his eyes lit up.

At this moment, many different routes appeared in his mind. However, all of them were immediately eliminated.

'Is there a way through?'

Li Lanfeng looked at Ling Lan's mecha from the corner of his eyes. She passed the first set of mecha without any hesitation. When Li Lanfeng saw that, he calmed himself down.

There must be a way!

He knew that Ling Lan wasn't someone who acted rashly or bet on something that was unwinnable.

Where was it? Why couldn't he see it?

Li Lanfeng always knew that there was a distance between Ling Lan and him. He thought that the distance between them had shortened but in that instant just now, he felt that the distance was still as vast as the ocean.

How can I be left behind by you again?

Li Lanfeng was extremely frightened of being left behind. Suddenly, his eyes turned black entirely.

The pupil of his eye expanded without any limit until it devoured all the white parts of his eyes, looking as if his eyes had turned into black holes.

Li Lanfeng was currently looking at a four-dimensional world. The passages around him and the mechas in front of him all turned into lines. They criss-crossed each other. It looked like a minor virtual world.

1423 No!

"This is…" Li Lanfeng was dumbstruck but he immediately understood what was happening. This should be a sign that his spectre abilities were evolving. Although he didn't know what would be the new function, evolution was still a good thing.

But, the next second, he knew what it could do.

Deduction!

In this minor virtual world, a few routes started to map out in his head. These were routes he had deduced. However, this didn't mean that all the paths were accurate and safe. A deduction was just an inference he made based on the situation. It might still be slightly different from the reality. Whether he was able to find the most accurate path out of all these routes depended on his own judgment.

This evolution just allowed him to visualize the best routes he could think of. It didn't give him the final answer. He still had to rely on himself to make the ultimate decision.

This was an example of how different innate talents could be. Ling Lan's Profound Insight was able to give her a clear answer right from the start. As it evolved slowly, it's ability got scarier. Sometimes, even Ling Lan found it difficult to control her own innate talent.

Li Lanfeng didn't have the time to slowly make his judgment. So many things were pushed towards his plate but all these happened within a blink of an eye, and Li Lanfeng needed to choose his route immediately.

There was no time to compare and stimulate the routes. Reality forced Li Lanfeng to make his decision the instant he saw the image.

In the end, he still relied on his instinct. He chose the path his intuition told him to.

This proved why Qi Long's Animal Instinct was one of the best innate talents for mecha operators even though it sounded so unreliable. All the different divisions were fighting to get him.

During a crucial moment, there was no time for you to think too much. It was a life-or-death situation. In such situations, only innate talents like Animal Instinct would allow you to see an opportunity in an instant. Mecha operators that were able to sense danger could live longer. Mecha operators would only be useful if they were able to survive.

Li Lanfeng was very decisive. It could even be said that he was more decisive than 99.9999…% of the people in the world. If he had to admit that he was weaker than someone, it would only be Ling Lan.

Li Lanfeng was able to live well in the Li family and have such a good life because of his emotionless and cold-blooded heart.

There were many devious people in the world, especially in the Li family. They were born with this trait in their blood. They might lack hot-headed and naive people but people like Li Lanfeng? They came in masses.

But, as long as he was a human, he would have something he treasured. In that case, he would have a weakness, and that weakness could be easily used against him.

The people of the Li family more or less had things they treasured. For instance, the family head of the Li family viewed prospering and passing on the legacy of the Li family as his responsibility. In order to do this, he was willing to make numerous devious plans. He even started his plot more than twenty years ago just to increase the chance of it happening. However, this was the reason why Li Lanfeng was able to catch onto his weakness and used it as leverage to get what he wanted.

For instance, Li Shiyu treasured his brotherhood with Li Lanfeng. Thus, under Li Lanfeng's guidance, he went on a path he would never have taken in the past. Not only that, having a military doctor as his younger brother added more security to his health. At the same time, Li Lanfeng managed to get rid of a powerful opponent fighting with him for the title of the family head.

Another example, Li Yingjie was the third-in-line successor of the Li family, but he grew up to be an impulsive and typical rich second-generation youth. Without Li Lanfeng's secret doings and his plans to groom Li Yingjie into a big bully, do you believe that the Li family, who was the master of schemes, would raise such a naive and stupid successor?

Of course, we wouldn't know if there were other members of the Li family who helped to push Li Lanfeng's plans.

But, Li Lanfeng knew who had helped him. If he was able to use someone else's hands to get rid of an opponent silently, he was happy to do it.

In Li Lanfeng's heart, Li Yingjie was just a stranger that had the same surname as him. That was it.

What if they were brothers, so what? He was able to scheme against Li Shiyu, the person who loved and trusted him deeply, mercilessly. So, there was no way he would treat Li Yingjie, someone who he had never even seen before, any better.

What worsened the situation back then was the fact that Li Lanfeng didn't care about anything, even himself. Hence, he would use himself as leverage in an argument too. He never showed mercy even when it came to plots about himself, so what kind of virtuous soul did he need to have to not treat others harsher than how he treated himself.

Back then, Li Lanfeng literally had no weakness. Hence, in the Li family, every step he made was stable and accurate, and in the end, he got what he wanted.

But, he was still unable to break the curse of fate. He met Ling Lan who introduced him to the beautiful world. But, simultaneously, Ling Lan gave him a fatal weakness.

Li Lanfeng tried his best to get rid of this weakness in the past, but he lost. He lost hard.

Li Lanfeng had a weakness now but it only surfaced when Ling Lan's safety was in jeopardy. As long as it didn't affect her safety, Li Lanfeng was still the same Li Lanfeng.

Obviously, everything said above had nothing to do with what was happening now. In that minor virtual world, Li Lanfeng was extremely calm and he made a decision in an instant.

It wasn't an obvious route. There were at least four other routes that looked much safer than this one. However, Li Lanfeng was instinctively drawn to it when he first laid his eyes on it.

Almost at the same time, his mecha appeared in his virtual world. Then, multiple split screens were displayed in front of him showing each position he was supposed to move. The split screens were analysing the steps and methods he needed to operate his mecha as well as the success rate of these movements.

At this moment, Ling Lan, who was the first to make the move, had already evaded the mechas of the scavengers. She successfully passed the first set of mechas of the guards.

Ling Lan was invisible to the human eye. She also stopped all unnecessary heat production. But, the wind produced when she was flying past the mechas still existed.

Without a doubt, it was up to the piloting skills of the mecha operator to ensure that the winds generated wouldn't alert the sensors on the guards.

This kind of close-distance phasing maneuver was definitely considered a 'god-class' piloting skill. Let's not talk about ace mecha masters. Even imperial operators might not dare to bet that they would be successful.

Ling Lan's mecha piloting skills were undoubtedly perfect. Under her control, the wind caused by her mecha was negligible. It wouldn't even be noticed by the mecha that was just beside her. Thus, the ones further away wouldn't detect her too.

Luo Lang followed behind Ling Lan closely.

Now, the Luo Lang in control wasn't just the normal Luo Lang.

It was impossible for Luo Lang's primary personality to keep up with Boss's pace.

Luo Lang knew this and the calm personality knew this too. Hence, the moment Ling Lan moved, Luo Lang and the calm personality merged instantaneously.

The first answer the calm personality gave after merging was synchronised simulation.

They would copy Ling Lan's piloting, his route, and his movements exactly to pass through.

"No!"

Suddenly, both Luo Lang and the calm personality realised a huge mistake.

Luo Lang couldn't keep up with Boss's hand speed. At the same time, his spiritual power was weaker too. It was only weaker by a little bit but this stopped him from completely copying Ling Lan's movement.

Both of them knew what the result would be. They would be exposed.

1424 Not One Less

In the cockpit, cold sweat covered Luo Lang's body in an instant. Whether it was the primary personality or the calm personality, they could only watch as their mecha failed to pass through the gap between the guards. Their movements were too big. Their mecha slid towards one of the guards at the side.

"No!"

Not only was the primary personality unable to accept this reality, but the calm personality also couldn't accept it too.

Although there were different personalities, all of them had a similarity. They didn't accept failure.

"There's still a chance."

This strong belief stimulated Luo Lang. His eyes widened and his hand speed, which had already reached the maximum, instantly accelerated again. At that moment, it was actually comparable to Ling Lan's hand speed.

The primary personality and the calm personality were entirely focused so they didn't realise that while they were unwilling to accept defeat and were looking for an opportunity to break through, the two personalities reached the same resonance. They managed to merge perfectly. This Luo Lang wasn't a combination of the primary personality and the calm personality. It was an entirely new Luo Lang.

This new Luo Lang had the calmness of the calm personality and the powerful mecha piloting skills of the primary personality. Because these two personalities merged perfectly, Luo Lang's spiritual power, which didn't reach the requirements just now, increased immediately to the point where he could execute Ling Lan's movements.

"Let me pass!" Luo Lang gritted his teeth as his fingers created afterimages as it moved through the control panel. Luo Lang should have felt an immense backflash from going this fast but currently, Luo Lang felt nothing. There was only Boss in his eyes. While he watched Boss elegantly phasing through the various mechas, he was mimicking Boss's movement with almost a 100 percent accuracy.

Luo Lang's mecha barely scraped by his opponent's mecha. At the most crucial moment, Luo Lang succeeded.

Luo Lang was completely honed in on Ling Lan so he didn't have the time to feel happy. He needed to follow behind Boss's footsteps closely to get by the next set of guards.

At the back, Li Lanfeng, who noticed Luo Lang's almost miraculous movement, narrowed his eyes. He was very observant so it was natural that he noticed that Luo Lang had gotten stronger in that split second.

Actually, when he saw Luo Lang following Ling Lan's actions, Li Lanfeng already knew what Luo Lang wanted to do.

He had thought Luo Lang was going to fail.

When Luo Lang almost alerted the guards, Li Lanfeng almost had a heart attack. But, before he could provide help, Luo Lang managed to evade the mecha successfully.

His instantaneous shift in movement proved that the current Luo Lang was more powerful than the Luo Lang a moment ago.

"I can't lose." Li Lanfeng's black eyes turned even darker and deeper.

About Ling Lan's maneuvers, Li Lanfeng felt that he had enough spiritual power to execute it. However, his hand speed, due to his physical constitution, had always limited his improvement. Although he managed to solve his physical constitution problem after meeting Ling Lan, he had already missed the prime time to grow stronger. Thus, his body still restricted his growth.

In actual fact, in Lingtian, Li Lanfeng's mecha piloting skill was seventh out of all the mecha operators.

Ling Lan had laid the foundations for Qi Long and Luo Lang's mecha piloting future. With the help of their amazing talent, there was nothing much to say about their hand speed. They were the top two within Lingtian. The two vice commanders, Liu Furong and Yang Mingzhi, Brigade Leader Gu, and Li Lanfeng's best buddy, Zhao Jun, all had faster hand speeds than Li Lanfeng.

What about Ling Lan?

Was Ling Lan even a human? This ranking was only for humans.

Of course, having quick hands didn't represent your real mecha piloting ability. If they really had a fight, Li Lanfeng might not lose to the people who were ranked higher than him. In Lingtian, there were two people recognised as the most difficult opponents. They were Qi Long and Li Lanfeng.

Qi Long was hard to fight with because he would get stronger and crazier as the fight went on. He was like an unkillable cockroach. This teasing nickname had been following him for a long time was validated even more the more they spent time with him. Although many people from Lingtian still didn't know who or what a cockroach was, since their boss said it, it must be a very strong person or animal, right?

Imagine fighting an undying opponent. What could you do to him? You would only get more and more tired the more you fought him. In the end, there would only be one thought in your mind, why hasn't it ended yet? Fine, I think I should just admit defeat.

As for Li Lanfeng, no one knew how to fight with him yet. Every single move he made always looked like a trap. If you guard against it, it might be nothing. If you don't, fine, a punch was coming right at your face. The longer you fought with him, the more frustrated you would get before finally, you wouldn't feel like fighting anymore. Ahh! I got fooled again! I admit defeat! I give up! Please let me go!

Hence, even if Li Lanfeng had suddenly evolved successfully like Luo Lang, based on his limiting hand speed, he wouldn't be able to jump and leap like him. He could at most be as fast as Qi Long, and that was his best already.

This was the hard truth of the limitations of physical constitution. It was like a natural chasm laid in front of Li Lanfeng.

His crippling physical constitution forced Li Lanfeng to find other ways to catch up with Ling Lan, and because of his earlier efforts, he finally managed to evolve in that opportune moment.

On the bright side, Li Lanfeng's spiritual power was stronger than Ling Lan. Using that and his evolved innate talent to his advantage, he managed to find a new route using his spiritual power. This route didn't require any heaven-defying technique like what Ling Lan was doing. It was just a seemingly useless ability. But, Li Lanfeng knew that this was what he wanted now. This ability could help him make more of his limited hand speed.

Being provided with all the possible routes he could take, but the final decision was always made by Li Lanfeng personally. With this ability, he felt more confident in becoming the number one underling directly below Ling Lan.

Yes, Li Lanfeng never gave up this goal. Even though he fell in love with Ling Lan and was willing to stay beside her, he never gave up his goal.

This was because he became greedier. He didn't just want to become the most important person in Ling Lan's heart. He also wanted to become the most powerful person among her companions. He would never give up either of his goals.

When Li Lanfeng noticed that Luo Lang had succeeded, he completely ignored him.

Of course, he didn't have a choice, it was because he was going to face the same predicament as Luo Lang had just now.

Just like Luo Lang, if he was unable to control his mecha accurately, Li Lanfeng's mecha would alert the guards.

The route that Li Lanfeng chose was different from Ling Lan's route.

Ling Lan's route was the shortest, almost being a straight line. But, undoubtedly, it was the most difficult too. Only a monster like Ling Lan would be able to use this route without alerting the guards. Luo Lang, who had evolved, could only barely manage to scrape by. Many times, he almost bumped into a guard. This further proved that there was a huge gap between Luo Lang and Ling Lan's mecha piloting skills.

1425 Not Enough Ability

Li Lanfeng's route seemed less difficult than Ling Lan's. This was because the route he chose had the largest gaps between the guards. Of course, this increased the distance he needed to travel. Moreover, he had to pass through four more mechas than Ling Lan.

But, in actual fact, the difficulty between the two routes was comparable. To add to his already high-strung nerves, he couldn't fail. Once he made a mistake, he would reveal himself and destroy Ling Lan's plan entirely, which then would expose Ling Lan to danger; something that he would allow himself to do.

Thus, he must succeed.

After calming his mind, he rushed towards the guards.

His hand speed increased exponentially and in an instant, it reached his limit.

Although he chose a slightly less difficult path, that didn't mean that with his current ability, he would be able to pass through it easily.

"Let me pass!" Li Lanfeng screamed in his heart. However, his eyes were still black and calm, like the surface of a lake.

He flew past the guards at an obscure angle. Li Lanfeng's fingers couldn't be seen on the control panel anymore. If someone didn't notice where his arms were, they might think he was just sitting in his cockpit, not doing anything.

Cold sweat continued to drip from Li Lanfeng's forehead. He realized that he had almost lost control of his mecha because it was moving too quickly. It was almost steering away from its original course. Once it left the route entirely, he would hit the guards.

"No!" Li Lanfeng refused to let that happen. The rejection in him was so strong that Li Lanfeng's hand speed, which had been stagnant for so many years, suddenly increased.

This increase was minimal but it was enough to allow him to stabilise his mecha.

The mecha managed to pass through the guard with less than ten centimeters of distance between them. It was a narrow miss.

Then, he passed through the second and the third mecha.

When Li Lanfeng passed through the last mecha, he finally saw the back of Luo Lang's mecha, who followed Ling Lan.

It was no surprise that he was slower since he chose the further route.

After passing through the tunnel, they saw a huge plaza. There were many mecha standing tall and upright in the plaza. These mechas were all different in appearance. But, if you looked carefully, you would notice their similarity. Just like the mechas of the mecha scavenger team that lead them here, these mechas had all been repaired.

"The two of you will stay here temporarily. I will go and scout the area first." Ling Lan raised her right hand and gave her order.

"Let me go." Li Lanfeng couldn't bear to let Ling Lan be in danger so he volunteered himself hurriedly.

"You're not strong enough." Ling Lan's cockpit suddenly opened. She was already standing at the door.

"There shouldn't be any mechas inside. If we still use our mechas, we will be discovered by the organisation," Ling Lan said calmly without care if her words would hurt Li Lanfeng.

"But, this is their base. It will be dangerous if you act alone," Li Lanfeng sighed as he said this. "If we can invent the spatial pocket mentioned in the books, we won't need to be so careful."

If they were able to bring their imperial mechas along, they would be able to fight with a god-realm formidable warrior. Then ,Ling Lan as an imperial realm formidable warrior would have the chance to fight against god-realm formidable warrior, if there was one stationed here.

1426 How Could I Have Known?

Legend has it that there were seven organizers in the Mecha Scavenger Organization. However, those who worked under them never fully met with all seven of these big wigs.

Still, the highest tower at the center of where the organization was situated would always have one of the organizers garrisoned there.

The equipment and set up of the atrium in the first floor of the plaza gave Ling Lan the feeling she had returned back to the Federation.

Technologically advanced optical supercomputers were lined up on both sides of the atrium for scavenger members to look up information. One of the walls displayed mecha materials and part and how much they were worth. These supercomputers facilitated the scavengers to choose the missions they could handle. This method was not so different from the mercenary centers in the center of the galaxy.

"That's interesting." Ling Lan raised her eyebrows. In the next second, she had already disappeared from the crowd.

The people around her seemed to not have noticed there was a person beside them just then.

The top of the tower was quite empty. Other than a set of elegant sofas, there weren't anything else.

With glass walls on all sides, sitting on the sofas would allow the person to monitor the plaza below them.

At that moment, there was a mature and handsome middle-aged man sitting there, holding a glass of red wine while slowly sipping from it.

Suddenly, he stopped sipping his wine. He let out a deep sigh as he slowly put down his wine glass. A look of regret fell upon his eyes. It was as though he felt it was unfortunate that his peaceful afternoon was gone just like that.

"Since you've come, you might as well come out," said the middle-aged man.

Right as he finished, a silhouette appeared behind him. It was indeed Ling Lan.

The middle-aged man turned his head with no surprised expression on his face. After seeing Ling Lan, he scanned her from head to toe before saying, "I didn't expect you to be this young."

He could completely see through how young Ling Lan was. Even if his scene before him was deceiving him, the young and fresh aura she gave off was enough to prove that her strong life force and liveliness.

"I didn't expect you to be this old," said Ling Lan nonchalantly. She didn't care whether it would offend the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man's expression hardened. To punish Ling Lan's disrespect, he sent a hidden force towards Ling Lan.

However, when this hidden force was a meter away from Ling Lan, it silently dissipated. It was as though the middle-aged man hadn't attacked.

The middle-aged man's expression froze slightly. "No wonder you're so bold to have come here by yourself."

"I'm indeed quite curious how you are able to establish such a large organization right under the 13 Lords' noses." It was though Ling Lan had returned home. She slowly walked to the sofas and casually sat in one of the sofas in front of the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man smiled. "We are only a few poor bastards trying to make a living and feed our families. You think the 13 Lords will care about low-class people like us?"

"If it was elsewhere, they indeed wouldn't care. However, in Kamoda, you people are taking the profits of the 13 Lords." Ling Lan half-smiled. "The stuff you are scavenging up are the 13 Lords' wealth."

The middle-aged man didn't stop smiling, but his eyes narrowed slightly and a flash of killing intent showed within them.

"Who are you?" said the middle-aged man coldly as his smile actually cracked.

"Who are you?" Ling Lan answered with a question.

The middle-aged glared at Ling Lan coldly and didn't answer. The atmosphere around them got tense.

Shing! Suddenly, a sharp sword appeared out of thin air and it ruthlessly sliced towards Ling Lan.

However, right as it was about to hit Ling Lan, the sword suddenly burst into ash. Ling Lan on the other hand was still sitting calmly on the sofa watching him indifferently like a king when watching a jester.

"Who are you realy?" The middle-aged man had a slightly worried expression on his face.

"What should I call you by? Should I call you Lord Dui, or the master of the Mecha Scavenger Organization?" Ling Lan's words suddenly intruded upon his largest secret. He instinctively made an attack.

The middle-aged man suddenly vanished from the sofa. Soon after, a huge axe appeared above her head. It chopped towards Ling Lan with much force as if it was trying to split apart the universe.

Boom! The axe was met with a tough ice shield.

The ice shield on top of Ling Lan's head stopped the axe from moving any further.

The clash between the two domains caused energy shockwaves. Just as the glass around them was about to shatter, the trembling domain concept energies suddenly dissipated into the air. The top of the tower was just as peaceful as it was before.

The axe sensed that it couldn't move any further and suddenly retracted itself. In the next second, the middle-aged man who had originally vanished, appeared once again. This time, he was standing below the large axe.

He put his hand upward and clasped it. The axe then automatically returned in his hand.

"Ice element. I know who you are." The middle-aged man had a smile on his face after finally finding out the identity of his opponent. "You're the new Lord Gen, Lan Xiao."

"Well, now that we know who each of our identities are, I will get straight to the point. Where's my people?" asked Ling Lan calmly.

"How should I know?" said Lord Dui with a smile on his face. "Your opponents are Lords Li and Demon, not me."

"This so-called battle royale… Do I look like someone that can be that easily fooled?" Ling Lan said plainly. "The master of the Mecha Scavenger Organization really knows how to calculate everything."

Lord Dui smiled. "Kamoda's citizens are quite pitiful. Since the battle was started by us, then we have this responsibility to resolve this issue."

"Perhaps I should speak with Lord Holy and the others," Ling Lan looked at Lord Dui with a half-smile on her face. "I'm sure they'd be interested in knowing about the Mecha Scavenger Organization."

Lord Dui smiled and said, "Sure, however, be careful not to get killed by us. Some of us may not have such a good temper like me."

Those words implied that this organization was actually created by the 13 Lords.

"I just so happen to have people at Lord Holy's place doing some business. I should listen to Lord Dui's suggestion and notify my people to tell Lord Holy about this." Ling Lan took out a communicator. When she was about to push down on a button, Lord Dui made a move once again.

Bang! Not sure from when, but an ice sword appeared in Ling Lan's hand to block the sudden wide axe swing from Lord Dui.

"So, Lord Dui actually doesn't want Lord Holy to know about this," Ling Lan said mockingly with a smirk on her face while looking at Lord Dui.

"What do you want?" Lord Dui looked at Ling Lan with a defeated look on his face as he spoke in an angry tone.

Ling Lan's expression suddenly turned ice cold and said the words one by one, "Where, are, my, people?"

"Haha, who knows? Maybe they were ambushed or… all died." Lord Dui had a mocking smile on his face. "You really thought that we would let someone who doesn't know about the Lawless Lands to be one of the Lords? You're dreaming."

Shoo! A cold flash of wind blew across his face. Lord Dui felt a strong force on his hands and was pushed back uncontrollably by the force.

Just what type of person was Lord Dui? He landed firmly on the ground by putting a single ton of weight on himself.

Bang! Before he could fully regain his balance, Lord Dui's expression changed slightly. He hurriedly put up his large axe to use it as a shield to block Ling Lan's follow up attack.

1427 Extremely Reasonable

"Lord Dui, don't force me to ally with Lord Holy and the others," Ling Lan had a cold expression on her face. "I'm quite sure I can be the enemy you fear most."

Lord Dui laughed coldly and said, "I can just take you out first to avoid being exposed."

After saying that, the large axe in Lord Dui's hand was swung once again.

Ling Lan's eyes flashed in an icy glimmer. "Ice Age."

In an instant, the entire tip of the tower was encased in ice.

Bang! The large axe struck into the frozen ground, causing ice shards to fly into the air.

After Ling Lan used her 'Ice Age' domain technique, she completely vanished. Lord Dui looked around him. He knew that Ling Lan had merged within the snow and ice. If he wanted to see her, he must first get rid of the ice domain and force her to come out.

"Earth Splitter." Lord Dui decisively tossed out the large axe in his hand. After leaving Lord Dui's hands, the axe grew huge until it shadowed over the entire tip of the tower. It was as though it was about to break open the dimension.

Right after, it chopped downwards in an attempt to crack open this ice and snow domain.

Boom!

The power was clearly terrifying, but the entire building wasn't affected by one bit, not to mention collapsing.

It was clear that Ling Lan and Lord Dui's fight seemed wild, but was actually quite restrained.

The chop didn't do anything to Ling Lan's ice domain. The entire top level of the tower was still encased in a layer of ice and snow.

After seeing the current situation, Lord Dui frowned slightly. While in deep thought, he figured out what the reason was.

The ice and snow domain focused mainly on defense. It merged with the tip of the tower nicely. The amount of domain concept energy his opponent had dished out wasn't as restrained as his own. He speculated that if his opponent didn't use 100% of his power, then he would at least have used 80% of it. Him on the other hand, only dared to use 50% of his domain concept energy to prevent this place from becoming destroyed. The difference between them was too great, so how could he get past that defense?

It was clear that he was in a difficult position, unless he wasn't afraid and didn't care about this building. However, was that possible? Not only were there countless people in the plaza, just the amount of equipment below them didn't allow him to do something like that.

All in all, it was because of resources. In the center of the galaxy, as long as a person had money, it wouldn't be hard for them to reacquire those types of equipment. However, it couldn't be said the same in the Lawless Lands. It was being ousted by all the nations, so they would need to pay a huge price to get another set of the equipment they had. Even the 13 Lords would feel their teeth ache from hearing the cost.

Right as Lord Dui was hesitating, he heard Ling Lan's voice in his ears.

"For defense, I wouldn't dare to say that the ice element is the strongest, but it is still in the top three. Although your axe has immense destructive power, you still won't be able to break through my domain, unless you don't mind losing this place."

"I have said that we just need a place to stay and I don't want to be included in your petty fight. However, if you continue messing with you, I'll show you why I was chosen to be here."

"Whether you're an enemy or ally doesn't depend on me, but depends on your attitude," Ling Lan said coldly. "I'm going to ask again, where are my people?"

"How about you ask that question to me?" Suddenly, a voice rang beside Ling Lan's ears.

Ling Lan's expression changed instantly. Before she could react, she sensed a strong force instantly hit her.

Bang! Ling Lan suddenly flew out from an area of ice and snow. Right as she was about to smash into the ground, she turned her body and landed on her feet. However, the force behind the attack was too strong. Ling Lan uncontrollably stepped backwards a few steps before managing to regain her balance.

Just one attack was enough to force her out of her own domain. There was no doubt that the person who just appeared was definitely a god-realm level individual.

Ling Lan swallowed the blood that was about to come from her mouth. She then looked coldly at a certain direction and said, "You should be Lord Qian if I'm not mistaken."

She had met Lord Kun before. The feeling she had about this person was that he was stronger than Lord Kun. Then that meant it was the legendary Lord Qian in the 13 Lords who had entered into the god-realm.

"You're a smart one." Right as the voice finished speaking, a grey-cloaked man appeared out of thin air at the place Ling Lan set her eyes upon. He looked in his 40s. The aura around him was calm and peaceful. It was as though he didn't have any power whatsoever.

Ling Lan said calmly, "There aren't more than two god-realm masters in the center of the galaxy. I didn't expect there to be one here in the Lawless Lands."

"And what good is that?" Lord Qian sighed slightly. "Isn't the Lawless Lands still completely locked up by the center of the galaxy? Aren't the citizens of the Lawless Lands still living like animals?"

"It seems I'm mistaken. I thought this was the result of the decisions you people have made," Ling Lan half-smiled. "It seems I wronged the lords who loved their country and people."

Lord Qian was surprised. "Oh? What you said is very interesting, little friend. How about you tell me about it?"

After saying that, he flicked his right hand and the tip of the tower that was encased in ice instantly melted to return to its original state in the blink of an eye.

"Come, sit and chat." Lord Qian randomly chose a sofa and sat down, then he gestured towards Ling Lan.

Despite facing a god-realm master, she didn't have any ounce of fear in her body. After all, being taught by Instructor Number One at a young age and becoming Mu Shui-qing's student when she was 13, with two of the strongest people in the universe constantly using their aura to pressure her, why would she be scared now? After hearing Lord Qian calling her, she slowly walked over and sat down firmly in a seat directly in front of Lord Qian.

Ling Lan's fearless attitude invoked a look of admiration in Lord Qian.

Although they were both part of the 13 Lords, he still didn't care who Lord Gen was. Thus, Ling Lan killing the original Lord Gen didn't annoy Lord Qian. In reality, he was willing to see stronger individuals take over.

Of course, firstly, they must not disrupt his plans.

"Master Lord Qian," said Lord Dui softly as he had already stood behind Lord Qian like a servant.

"Leave this place to me. It seems we have two more guests. Go invite them to come up as well." Lord Qian smiled as he looked at Li Lanfeng and Luo Lang's hiding place as he spoke to Lord Dui.

When Lord Dui was fighting Ling Lan, he didn't have the mind to pay attention to any other intruders. Now that he was hinted by Lord Qian, how could he not know where the intruders were? After hearing his words, he immediately replied, "Yes, Master Lord Qian." In the next second, he disappeared from where he stood.

After seeing her own people being discovered, Ling Lan didn't show any panic in her expression. She was still calmly looking at Lord Qian.

"Not bad. Calm and collected. You have a bright future ahead of you." Lord Qian noticed her demeanor and couldn't help but praise her for it.

Ling Lan was as calm as she was before, not moved by Lord Qian's acknowledgment or praise. It was as though the Lord Qian before her was just an ordinary person saying an ordinary statement.

After seeing Ling Lan not be moved mentally after a god-realm master praised him, Lord Qian had an intrigued look in his eyes.

"I'm interested in what you said just now. Do you want to tell me now or do you want to wait for your people and say it then?" Lord Qian spoke first and went back to the topic he was interested in before sitting down.

Ling Lan took out her right hand and elegantly pulled on the corner of her left sleeve. Then, she said calmly, "If Lord Dui's inviting them up here, then we should wait for them to talk about it together."

Lord Qian let out a light laugh after hearing Ling Lan's words. "Haha, you aren't worried about your two friends?"

"What's there to worry about?" Ling Lan raised her eyebrows and asked.

"Out of the three of you, you're the strongest and could somewhat fight against Lord Dui. Your two friends on the other hand wouldn't be able to go against Lord Dui even if they were to fight against him together…" Lord Qian looked towards the entrance. "If they come, their lives won't be in their own hands anymore."

"What of it?" Ling Lan smirked slightly.

Lord Qian was surprised and then smiled. "You're too ruthless, kid."

With his capabilities, he saw through Ling Lan's real age in an instant. At his age, calling her kid made sense.

1428 Probe.

She didn't have a choice in deciding whether she could be ruthless or not in this situation. Plus, she was sure Li Lanfeng and Luo Lang preferred to fight alongside her even if the risk of dying was very high. If she really did ask them to run, she would just be insulting their resolve to go along with her.

After waiting there silently for a few minutes, she saw Li Lanfeng and Luo Lang walking over calmly accompanied by Lord Dui.

When they saw Ling Lan, they hastened their speed to stand behind her without any hesitation.

Lord Qian's eyes lit up when he saw them being so loyal to Ling Lan. He got even more interested in Ling Lan now. Ling Lan was very young but he managed to gain the respect of his comrades of the same generation. He must have some capabilities.

He inspected Li Lanfeng and Luo Lang for a while before pointing to Ling Lan and saying, "Do you know he was the one who brought you in here to die? What do you think about that?"

Lord Qian observed the three young men in front of him with interest. He wanted to see if anything interesting would happen because of what he said.

Luo Lang looked at Lord Qian in confusion when he heard this.

As for Li Lanfeng, from the moment he came in, he had a small smile on his face. The angle of his lips never changed. It was as if what Lord Qian said was of no significance.

Lord Qian glanced at Li Lanfeng. Then, he looked at Luo Lang who didn't seem to understand what was happening. He asked, "Tell me honestly. If I'm satisfied with your answer, I might show some mercy and let you leave this place alive."

"What about Boss?" Luo Lang looked at Ling Lan who was in front of him.

"He is my guest. He can't leave," Lord Qian smiled and replied.

Luo Lang shrugged nonchalantly when he heard this. "Why should I leave then?"

Lord Qian was stunned. "What do you mean?"

"I will stay beside Boss wherever he is," Luo Lang said seriously. "Plus, I promised someone that anyone that wants to hurt Boss will have to step over my dead body first."

As Luo Lang was speaking, his entire body seemed to have turned into a sword that was about to come out of its sheath. His aura was filled with killing intent.

"Same for me." Li Lanfeng smiled and agreed with Luo Lang.

While Li Lanfeng was saying that, his aura was gentle and harmless. When standing beside Luo Lang who was engulfed in a malicious aura, they formed two different extremes. However, Lord Qian wasn't on Luo Lang but rather on Li Lanfeng. He sized up Li Lanfeng intently for a moment.

But, it was only for a short moment. To Lord Qian, who was almost invincible, he wouldn't take it seriously if there was an imperial realm formidable warrior in front of him, much less two titled domain realm formidable warriors. He only looked at them again because the immense trust the two of them had for Lord Gen… This firm belief moved his heart a little.

Actually, Lord Qian's words might seem simple but he used a psychological attack to waver Li Lanfeng and Luo Lang's trust in Ling Lan. At first, he thought that he would see the end of a beautiful camaraderie but surprisingly, he failed. He was quite surprised.

The psychological attack of a god-realm formidable warrior would cause a single doubt in their hearts to amplify multiple times. If there was a single hint of distrust or weakness in one's heart, the relationship between the two would be destroyed.

Lord Qian didn't know that Luo Lang grew up with Ling Lan so their friendship had already been etched deeply into their bones. In addition, Luo Lang was a pure person. To him, one means one and two means two. He was very straightforward and direct. When he liked someone, he would treat them wholeheartedly. How could such a person have any holes in his heart?

Plus, with Luo Lang's Alter Ego, it meant that he had many personalities inside him. Thus, even though his spiritual power wasn't as strong as Ling Lan or Li Lanfeng, it wasn't much weaker either. A psychological attack only had a high rate of success if your opponent had a weak spiritual power. With the same logic, the stronger his spiritual power, the lower the success rate. Hence, his psychological barrier wouldn't be broken so easily with just a few sentences.

As for Li Lanfeng, he was another extreme.

Luo Lang was pure and naive so he had no holes in his heart. On the other hand, Li Lanfeng was complicated and sinister. His personality was very dark and his heart was full of desires. Power, position, lust, and gluttony. In a sense, he was a flawed human. But, because his greed had reached to an extreme degree, unless you struck him in his fatal spot, his heart wouldn't be moved.

Lord Qian's attack was aimed at the wrong direction so he didn't yield any results.

Ling Lan appeared as if she didn't notice Lord Qian messing with her companions or maybe she didn't care about it at all. All she did was just smile at Lord Qian.

"Haha, not bad." Lord Qian laughed. He didn't hide what he did. Not knowing what was happening, the naive Luo Lang also started laughing too.

However, Ling Lan and Li Lanfeng maintained their smile and didn't laugh.

"Fine, young friend, you can tell me your thoughts now. Why do you think that it's our decision for the Lawless Lands to be in this trash state?" Lord Qian suddenly retracted his smile and stared intently at Ling Lan.

Ling Lan felt as if her face was being slashed by many knives. In the end, her eyes, skin, and the inside of her eyes started hurting.

A cold gaze appeared in Ling Lan's eyes. Her body trembled a little. In an invisible world, she successfully evaded the frightening death glare of Lord Qian.

It looks like the two of them were just staring at each other but she and Lord Qian knew that they had already exchanged a blow. If she couldn't resist the attack, she might have been blinded for life.

"Thank you, Number One. Thanks for helping me." Ling Lan thanked Number One in her mindscape. With her own ability, she would not be able to evade the glare from a god-realm formidable warrior. No matter how strong an imperial realm formidable warrior was, they were nothing in the eyes of a god-realm master. Truthfully, they were just little children who couldn't put up much resistance.

"It's alright. When you need me, I will act." Number One's indifferent voice appeared in her mindscape. This voice was cold but it gave Ling Lan a sense of security. With Number one by her side, she didn't have to worry about anything.

"At first, I thought that the 13 Lords started the battle royale because they wanted to sow seeds… I thought that they wanted to train a batch of warriors in the Lawless Lands." Ling Lan smiled. "But, I soon realised that that wasn't the case. You started the tradition of battle royales so that all of you would have an easier time controlling this place."

Lord Qian scoffed, "You should have read the history of the Lawless Lands from the books in the rainbow palace. Mind you, these battle royale are what the nations in the central regions hoped to see the most. If we don't have battle royales, it won't be long before the alliance troops of all the nations would charge in and purge everyone here."

"There's insufficient resources in the Lawless Lands for them to waste manpower here." Ling Lan exposed him with a single sentence.

"Even if they don't come so quickly, the spies they sent will create unrest and hatred among us. Without us, the battle royale will still exist," Lord Qian said calmly. "Rather than letting innocent people get hurt, the lords decided to start the battle royale voluntarily. That way, we can train our army while preventing commoners from getting hurt. We kill two birds with one stone."

1429 Direct Confrontation

Ling Lan didn't refute that statement. But that didn't mean she accepted Lord Qian's explanation either. She just smiled and continued looking at Lord Qian.

Lord Qian didn't mind. He stretched his hand out and took over the cup of tea Lord Dui passed to him. He had a sip of the tea before placing the teacup on the coffee table at the side. Then, he looked at Ling Lan indifferently.

The entire space started turning cold. Realizing this, Luo Lang changed his standing posture. The killing intent that he retracted a moment ago reappeared.

Ling Lan on the other hand didn't seem to have noticed anything. She appeared calm and composed. There was not even a change in her smile.

Li Lanfeng had a similar expression but Lord Qian noticed that he was clenching his left fist tightly.

Hmm, the new Lord Gen was still worth taking note of.

With just a few glances, Lord Qian was able to determine the strength of the three youngsters in front of him.

Lord Gen was the most powerful among the three. The one that was always smiling was the second and the man who was the purest was the weakest.

But, Lord Qian liked the weakest but most naive young man. The person he hated the most was the one who kept smiling but couldn't hide his thoughts. He was a calculative person.

As for Lord Gen… Lord Qian sighed softly in his heart. If he had a choice, he didn't want to be enemies with him.

Lord Qian was a little mindful of those people whom he couldn't control.

Finally, Lord Qian opened his mouth. "Fine, if what you said was true and we started the battle royales for our own selfish motives, what do we get out of these battle royales?"

"Profits from the war." Ling Lan looked around the room. She smiled and continued, "For instance, the Mecha Scavenger Alliance."

"If we started the battle royales, won't we have more losses?" Lord Qian laughed as he asked. "We always used expendable resources in battle royales. Aren't we wasting money in the end?"

"If the 13 Lords are only playing among themselves, it is true that the loss will outweigh the gain. But, are the 13 Lords the only players in these battle royales?" Ling Lan suddenly leaned forward and stared coldly at Lord Qian with a hint of threat.

Lord Qian was flabbergasted. He didn't expect an imperial realm formidable warrior to have the guts to threaten a god-realm master like himself. He didn't know if he should laugh at the young man for overestimating himself or should he praise him for being audacious?

"Are you saying that there is someone else involved in this? I remember that there are only 13 Lords in the Lawless Lands. There's no 14th lord." Lord Qian outrightly denied the claim.

"Yes. There's no 14th lord in the Lawless Lands. There are only the 13 Lords. However, these 13 Lords have different masters behind them, right?" Ling Lan smiled and said.

A cold flash of light shot out of Lord Qian's eyes when he heard this. It struck Ling Lan directly.

Bang!

Li Lanfeng and Luo Lang also felt their ears ringing. They felt dizzy.

Lord Qian and Ling Lan were still sitting opposite each other on the sofas. The only difference was, there was a drop of blood slowly dripping down the corner of Ling Lan's mouth.

Without a doubt, the two of them had secretly exchanged a blow just now. An imperial realm formidable warrior forcefully bore the attack of a god-realm master.

Lord Qian was astounded for a moment. He knew clearly that he didn't hold back just now. He thought that he would see Lord Gen lying sprawled on the floor but instead, he managed to bear with it. Plus, the drop of blood on the corner of his lips wasn't a sign of an internal injury. Lord Qian knew that it was caused because Lord Gen didn't manage to suppress the blood churning inside his body. With enough time, the young man would be able to regain his health.

"Not bad. It looks like you're not just an imperial realm formidable warrior. You must be half-step into god-realm, right?" For the first time, Lord Qian appeared cautious. At the same time, there was hidden killing intent in his gaze.

That year, when he was the age of this young man, he just managed to advance to the domain realm. He didn't even dare to think of the imperial realm then. If it wasn't for the series of coincidences, he might have stopped at the imperial realm. But, this young man managed to enter this unpredictable realm so early in his life. What kind of genius was he?

"Anyone that walks on this path wants to reach that realm," Ling Lan said calmly.

"Do you really come from the Soul Society?" Lord Qian started to suspect what he thought was the truth.

"What about you, Lord Qian?" Ling Lan asked him back instead of answering.

"Me?" Lord Qian laughed loudly. "Who do you think can make me listen to him?"

"Based on Lord Qian's ability, it truthfully will be hard for you to bow down to anyone unless the person is another god-realm master or a god-class operator. However, ability isn't the only thing that can make people listen to you. Emotions can too." Ling Lan smiled. "Lord Qian, you must still be unable to forget your country."

"Country?" Lord Qian suddenly sneered. "You think that I have a country?"

"Why not?" Ling Lan shifted her gaze to Lord Qian's cuff."If you really forgot about it, why do you still insist on wearing that bracelet?"

Lord Qian raised his eyebrows. He lifted his right hand to reveal the bracelet with a dragon head. He smiled and asked, "Isn't this just a coincidence?"

Ling Lan nodded. "Yes, it might be a coincidence. But, Lord Qian, you can't use this excuse."

"That's strange. Why can't it be a coincidence for me?" Lord Qian was baffled.

Ling Lan smiled slightly. "God-realm masters are in their own world, ungoverned by the rules of the universe. The influence of the coincidences in the universe won't affect you. Hence, it can only be done on purpose."

Lord Qian's gaze turned cold. "Seems like you have a deep understanding about god-realm."

"It couldn't be helped. I have three god-realm masters at home. Even if I don't want to know about it, I can't." The smile in Ling Lan's eyes got brighter.

Lord Qian's gaze flickered. He seemed to be considering something.

"You're not from the Soul Society," Lord Qian spoke slowly but firmly.

"Yes and no," Ling Lan's reply was ambiguous.

Lord Qian understood her. "You have an identity in the Soul Society but your real identity is something else… You're not from the mercenary world too. I've seen the abilities of all the three kings, and you're not one of them. You said that you're Lan Xiao but you're not from the Lan faction of the Rainbow Raiders. Since those are all not your identity, where did you come from? Why did you come to the Lawless Lands?"

"The identities are fake but I really do need a territory of my own," Ling Lan replied calmly.

"You couldn't stay in the central regions anymore, right?" Lord Qian sneered.

"You too, right? Everyone is the same." Ling Lan didn't give in. She confronted him directly.

Lord Qian glanced at Ling Lan indifferently. "You kept provoking us. Are you really seeking death?"

"I might not be able to live even if I don't provoke you. In that case, why not be more wilful? At least I don't have to be frustrated." Ling Lan's tone was still calm even in the face of death.

Lord Qian's gaze turned sharper. Just as everyone thought he was about to attack, Lord Qian suddenly looked up and laughed. "Hahahaha…"

"Interesting, interesting. As expected of Ling Xiao's son and the grand-disciple of Mu Shui-qing." Lord Qian suddenly exposed Ling Lan's identity.

Sure enough, she was unable to fool this sly old fox.

When Ling Lan saw Lord Qian for the first time, she had a strange feeling. She felt that Lord Qian should know her real identity. The probing after that proved that her instinct was correct.

"How should I address you then, the commander of the frontlines in the Lawless Lands sent by the Federation?" Ling Lan didn't get nervous when her identity was exposed. Instead, she said her prediction nonchalantly.

1430 Old Monster?

"Or rather, the previous chief of the Flying Dragon Special Forces?" Ling Lan didn't give in.

Lord Qian furiously stretched his hand out and grabbed Ling Lan's collar. Simultaneously, Ling Lan's gaze turned icy. She tapped in Lord Qian's direction with her right forefinger lightly.

The movement happened in an instant but Li Lanfeng, Luo Lang, and Lord Dui could see the action clearly. In their eyes, it even looked a little slow.

This wasn't because their ability was on par with Lord Qian or Ling Lan. It happened because the two of them used the time concept when attacking. If they wanted you to see it, you would see it. If they didn't plan to show you, you wouldn't be able to see it at all.

Li Lanfeng and Luo Lang understood why Ling Lan did it but the reason behind Lord Qian's decision provided much food for thought.

Then, Li Lanfeng and Luo Lang felt a powerful force of presence surging towards them. In that instant when it was about to engulf them, it slid past their body and didn't injure them.

Both of them knew it happened because Ling Lan was protecting them.

It was unexpected. Surprisingly, Ling Lan still had the energy to protect them when she was fighting with a god-realm master. Luo Lang looked at Ling Lan with respect and admiration. As for Li Lanfeng, he looked at her with respect and worry.

In the end, he still dragged Ling Lan down.

In the real world, the battle between Lord Qian and Ling Lan seemed extremely calm. If someone came in now, they might think that the two of them were just gesturing in the air silently. They wouldn't have guessed that a single mistake would cause one of them to get injured seriously and might even result in death.

Lord Qian attacked with his full strength but the other party managed to withstand it without any changes in his expression. Shock slowly grew in his eyes, but the confusion was growing at a larger rate.

"Who on earth are you?" Lord Qian squinted and asked coldly. He was staring at Ling Lan, trying to see if he could see through her.

"Haven't you already guessed my identity?" Ling Lan replied calmly.

"You are him but not him." Lord Qian stared at Ling Lan seriously. He wanted to detect something from her eyes.

"So what if I am or not?" Ling Lan's tone was like a pool of stagnant water. There were no ripples in her tone.

Li Lanfeng frowned slightly. Ling Lan had always been cold and heartless, but the coldness she exuded had never been this strong. It felt as if the current Ling Lan wasn't the real Ling Lan.

"I didn't expect your existence to be like this. There is really nothing impossible in this world." Lord Qian seemed to have understood something.

But, Ling Lan didn't reply to him. She just stared at Lord Qian coldly.

"Maybe we can have a good chat." Lord Qian's 'chat' meant the same thing as before but this time, his attitude had changed drastically.

At first, he asked Ling Lan for a chat because he was interested in her. He was looking down on her and talking to her as if he was bestowing her a favour. Now, he treated Ling Lan as an equal, someone he could discuss matters with.

"Don't you want to end the mess in the Lawless Lands?" Ling Lan went directly to the point.

"The other lords won't listen to me," Lord Qian answered calmly.

"Each for their own master. If you touch their interest, it's understandable that they won't listen to you." Ling Lan wasn't surprised. "But, you can't deny that some of the lords are your men, for instance, this one." Ling Lan looked up at Lord Dui who was standing beside Lord Qian.

Lord Dui smiled and didn't say anything.

"He is my half-disciple." Lord Qian didn't hide this fact. All the other lords already knew about his relationship with Lord Dui. Even if he didn't say it now, Ling Lan would be able to hear it from the other lords. In that case, why not reveal it directly?

"The other lords that invested in the Mecha Scavenger Alliance might not be your men but they are your collaborators," Ling Lan continued.

Lord Qian wasn't surprised by that claim as it was pretty obvious. If not, why would he allow those people to join him? He smiled and asked, "What else?"

"Your opponent should be a god-realm master from Caesar. I want to know which lord he is." Ling Lan looked up and stared at Lord Qian.

Ling Lan's gaze was too sharp. The smile on Lord Qian's face was wiped away and his gaze turned cold. "Why do you ask?"

"If he isn't a god-realm master, you can kill him easily. A god-class mecha master can be killed too if he doesn't have his god-class mecha with him." Ling Lan tilted her head and pondered. "If you are this tolerant, the other party can only be a god-realm master."

"Why did you guess that he's from Caesar?" Lord Qian remained silent for some time before finally opening his mouth.

"Besides Caesar, I can't think of another nation that can do this. Well, there's still the Federation. That's you, Lord Qian." Ling Lan couldn't help but smile when she said this. The cold aura around her disappeared and the entire atmosphere around the room turned… refreshing?

Lord Qian frowned slightly. He looked at Ling Lan thoughtfully but didn't say anything.

"It's time to reorganise the Lawless Lands." Ling Lan didn't care about his actions. She quickly revealed her motive thereafter.

"Reorganise?" Lord Qian smiled. "The moment we do something here, Caesar will get the news and the Federation will know too."

"We just have to make sure Caesar doesn't know," Ling Lan smiled as she said.

"You're being optimistic." Lord Qian shook his head in disappointment. His gaze turned indifferent. "But, it's rare to meet someone from my country so I'm in a good mood. This time, I will pretend that I know nothing. However, the next time, you won't be so lucky."

Lord Qian lowered his head and took his teacup from the coffee table at the side, signalling the end of the conversation.

Ling Lan wasn't dejected. She stood up swiftly and flicked her sleeves. She said calmly, "I'm sure that Lord Qian has a list of the spies from the other nations. I anticipate our collaboration."

Before Lord Qian could reply, Ling Lan's figure started disappearing slowly in front of Lord Qian. Li Lanfeng and Luo Lang also moved and left the tower.

Lord Dui was slightly furious when he saw how impolite they were. "This bunch of impudent brats… Let me teach them a lesson."

"No need. You're not Lord Gen's match." Lord Qian stopped him.

Lord Dui was dumbfounded for a split second. Then, jealousy appeared in his eyes.

"Don't let your jealousy affect your rationale. Lord Gen isn't as simple as you think…" Lord Qian raised his head and looked at the roof. "Maybe there's an old monster here."

The moment he looked into Lord Gen's eye, he had the feeling that if he really killed Lord Gen, he wouldn't be able to live the next second. At his stage, he knew clearly that this wasn't an illusion.

Old monster? Lord Dui's eyes cleared up. Lord Qian told Ling Lan that he was just a half-disciple but in Lord Dui's heart, Lord Qian was his master. He was someone he respected and regarded as a god.

Maybe this was the only way to explain why Lord Gen was able to fight with Lord Qian when he was only around 20 years old.