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Chapter 300 - Ling Lan's Mistake!

Although these conjectures caused discomfort in Li Lanfeng's heart and made him feel that the huge difference between them would be difficult to make up for, he would not disregard the other party's strength due to this.

"It couldn't be …" Zhao Jun replied in astonishment. When fighting against an imperial operator, even if it was just a guidance match, it was undoubtedly an insult towards that operator by using an intermediate mecha to take up the challenge.

"Perhaps there might be a deeper meaning to it." Li Lanfeng touched his chin and started pondering.

"What deeper meaning?" Zhao Jun asked in puzzlement.

"Could using a lesser mecha to execute advanced-level techniques help in comprehending those advanced-level techniques?" Li Lanfeng had indeed overthought things; he would always come up with some reasonings to convince himself, just like now. He decided to go redeem an intermediate mecha again after he finished spectating the fight, and experiment using advanced-level techniques on that mecha to see if it would be of help in improving his control over advanced techniques.

Based on Li Lanfeng's current strength and hand speed, he had already achieved the standard to advance to special-class operator level. The reason he had yet to advance was that he felt there were some fundamental movements that he was unable to execute exactly as he willed. He had always borne in mind the words that the rabbit mecha had consoled him with, so without perfecting those techniques, he was unable to convince himself to enter the next level.

He had originally assumed that this problem was due to insufficient practice, but from the current situation, he felt that perhaps it might be because of his lack of thorough understanding and that it was time to change and try another method.

At this moment, Ling Lan was unaware that her execution of techniques surpassing her level had caused Li Lanfeng, who was spectating the fight, to have a different train of thought, hence opening up a different type of training method. This fortuitous misconception gave him new insight towards foundational control.

********

"Ling Lan, are you still not aware that there's a problem with your control?"

Just as Ling Lan executed a shadow slidestep to continue attacking Ling Xiao, her father's indifferent voice suddenly sounded out in the cockpit. Ling Xiao's voice had always contained indulgence and acknowledgement, yet his current tone actually contained a hint of coldness and reproach.

Hearing his words, Ling Lan was alarmed, but her attack was already a nocked arrow that had to be released. Ling Xiao's counterattack was efficient this time — he launched a palm strike which, with a snapping sound, struck the crook of the arm of the mecha that Ling Lan was operating. It directly destroyed the mecha arm's control system, which basically meant that the right hand of Ling Lan's mecha had been crippled.

With a 'clang', the cold weapon Regretless in Ling Lan's hand dropped to the ground. The right hand which had lost control obviously did not have any means of holding onto that heavy weapon, and so the weapon was naturally dropped.

Ling Lan immediately leaped backwards, increasing the distance between them, and quietly stood stationary while starting to decipher the meaning of Ling Xiao's questioning words.

"Ling Lan, after launching attacks for so long, haven't you noticed your problem?" Ling Xiao's voice once again rang out in the cockpit, asking the same question.

"Is there a problem?" Ling Lan pondered aloud. Indeed, she had not noticed any problems with her own control. Although executing advanced-level techniques which were distinctive to advanced mecha on an intermediate mecha was quite strenuous, she had undoubtedly increased the combat power of the mecha several times over. Otherwise, based on an intermediate mecha's capability, it would have been impossible to exchange blows with an imperial mecha for such an extended period of time and she would have long been knocked down.

"Are you thinking that you've increased the mecha's combat power?" Ling Xiao could make out Ling Lan's thoughts at a glance and so bluntly asked her.

"Yes," Ling Lan replied honestly.

"But are things really what you believe them to be?" Ling Xiao's questioning stunned Ling Lan. Using higher level techniques would of course allow a mecha's power to be greater. Or was she mistaken?

"What's the current damage level of your mecha?" Ling Xiao sighed and could not help but rub at his brow.

As a father, he had lacked severely in fulfilling his obligations. If Ling Lan had not proposed to have him guide her in mecha piloting, he would not have known that his daughter's understanding of mecha piloting would have actually entered a diverged route. It seemed like there were too many things he had to learn to become a competent father. However, it was not serious as it was not considered too late for him to have realised this.

Ling Xiao took a glance at the silent intermediate mecha displayed on his screen and felt certain. As long as Ling Lan realised her mistake, her control skills were bound to improve. Thinking of this, Ling Xiao could not help but feel proud once again. Take a look, this is my, Ling Xiao's daughter. Even though she's a female, she has still managed to inherit my exceptional control talent, and she'll definitely be the best female mecha master.

Ling Xiao had high hopes for Ling Lan and believed that she would inevitably become an ace mecha master. Of course, under his wholehearted nurturing, it was not impossible for her to become the number one imperial operator in the Federation. Thinking of this possibility, Ling Xiao could not help but tremble. Despite being a god-class operator, he was still so moved at the thought of possibly witnessing his daughter ascending to the pinnacle that he could not be calm.

Alright, please forgive a father's feelings. Even if Ling Xiao was a god-class operator, at this moment, he was still an ordinary father who dearly loved his daughter.

Upon hearing Ling Xiao's words, Ling Lan did not delay in asking Little Four, who was currently in control of the mecha, about the mecha's condition.

Little Four replied that although he had tried his utmost to maintain the mecha's balance, its current damage level was already at 32.77% due to Ling Lan overextending the mecha by repeatedly executing advanced-level techniques. That was to say, if Ling Lan were to continue fighting in this manner, the mecha would only be able to sustain itself for another three minutes before it would completely fall apart.

"Damage level is at 32.77%." Ling Lan had not expected that the mecha's damage level would be so high. She somewhat dejectedly relayed this answer to Ling Xiao.

Ling Xiao quirked his brows, somewhat surprised. He had assumed that, with Ling Lan frantically overextending the mecha, the damage level was sure to be more than 40%. Unexpectedly, it was only slightly over 30%. It seemed like his daughter normally took great care of her mecha and made sure that every function of the mecha was adjusted to near optimum levels, thus being able to keep the damage level this low.

Ling Xiao was very satisfied by this. Only a mecha operator who truly cherished their mecha would be able to understand the significance of a mecha to an operator, and thus be able to bring out the true potential of the mecha without restraint. Without him having to bring this to her attention, his own daughter had been able to naturally comprehend this aspect. This proved that his daughter was a natural-born, outstanding mecha operator.

Ling Xiao, who was filled with appreciation for his daughter at this moment, was not aware that his daughter was absolutely not as great as he imagined. The mecha's low damage rate was completely due to Ling Lan's cheat, the omnipotent Little Four, who had done his utmost in preserving and maintaining the mecha. However, Little Four was exclusively Ling Lan's and could be considered as part of Ling Lan's ability, so Ling Xiao could not be considered to have been joyous for nothing.

"According to this damage rate, you'll only be able to continue for another three minutes. Do you perhaps think you can defeat me during those three minutes?" Even though Ling Xiao was very satisfied with his daughter, his tone was still cold. At this moment, he was not playing the role of a gentle father but a strict teacher. Since a problem with Ling Lan's mecha piloting had surfaced, then Ling Xiao needed to let Ling Lan understand her problem and keep it in mind.

"No, I've never thought so. Even if father were to abandon your defences and stand there like a sandbag for me to attack as I wish for three minutes, I would still be unable to defeat you." Ling Lan was clear about the difference in strength between her and Ling Xiao. She had merely had the extravagant hope of landing an attack on him once … only now did Ling Lan realize that her wish was actually so insignificant. From the start, she had been so oppressed by her father's powerful aura that she was somewhat breathless.

"I was only hoping to let father witness the techniques I have mastered. Of course, were it possible, I very much wished to land a strike on you." Ling Lan honestly revealed her own thoughts.

"Do you think you can achieve that?" Ling Xiao snorted and used the tip of his mecha's toe to point at his current position. Ling Lan subconsciously looked over, and what she saw caused Ling Lan to be transfixed. Her expression which had still been quite calm and collected suddenly froze.

"Have you understood?" Ling Xiao asked coldly.

"Yes, I was too egotistical," replied Ling Lan with a bitter smile; she saw that despite all her advanced attacks that she had racked her brains to think up, it had all been insignificant to her father Ling Xiao. Because from the start, the feet of Ling Xiao's mecha had never moved; he had stood there all along. Currently, he was still standing in the same spot and even his feet had not lifted once.

"It's not a problem wanting to win, but the problem lies in you. After executing those ineffective advanced-level techniques, why did you obstinately persist in using them? You clearly knew that if you were to repeatedly execute those techniques, not only would it be a huge burden on yourself, it would be the same for your mecha … Ultimately, there would have been no need for others to defeat you as you would have caused your own defeat. Is this something a qualified mecha operator should do?" Ling Xiao questioned with a grim expression.

Ling Xiao's questioning caused Ling Lan to lower her head in shame. He was right — other than having talent and capability, a cool head could not be lacked as this was related to the decision-making and methods of coping during a battle. A rash action could very well bring about an extreme crisis for a mecha operator and, at the same time, implicate their comrades. Earlier on, she had been too excited, agitated and rash. There had only been one thought in her mind at that moment and that was to successfully land a strike on her father as, after all, he was a god-class operator … In the world of mecha, a god-class operator was equivalent to a god-like existence.

"You've forgotten something more important. In my legacy, I should have repeatedly emphasized that the foundation is of greatest importance for any techniques." Seeing that Ling Lan understood her own mistake, Ling Xiao sighed gently and his tone softened.

"Wasn't I using the foundational controls for advanced mecha?" Ling Lan asked in astonishment.

"Were they foundational controls? They should be a set of foundational controls built on other foundational controls, techniques specially developed for advanced mecha. If you were currently using an advanced mecha, I could have just barely agreed with your viewpoint. However, are you using an advanced mecha at this moment?" Ling Xiao once again answered her question with a question.

Ling Lan was left speechless by Ling Xiao's questioning and knew now that her viewpoint had been wrong. Perhaps for an advanced mecha, the techniques she had used were more or less the same as foundation controls and not particularly difficult. However, when using an intermediate mecha, they were undoubtedly challenging advanced-level techniques and indeed could not be related to foundational controls.

Chapter 301 - The Truth of Control!

Seeing that Ling Lan had come to a realisation, Ling Xiao continued, "One more thing. In order for a mecha to display greater combat power, is it only possible by relying on those fancy and intricate moves? Ling Lan, have you ever thought about this question?"

Ling Lan was stumped by these words. The higher the difficulty of the mecha controls, the harder it was for the enemy to fight against it. This was the universally accepted standard of the mecha world ... but now, Ling Xiao seemed to be suggesting that the truth was not so. Could it be that the entire mecha community was mistaken in their understanding? Or was it her father himself who was mistaken?

Ling Lan instantly eliminated the possibility of her father being wrong. If her father was mistaken in his theoretical understanding of mecha, then how in the world had he come by his god-class operator status? Thinking about the fewer than few god-class operators within the Federation, Ling Lan could not help but think, Could it be that the official understanding of the mecha community on mecha control was actually wrong, which is why there are so few god-class operators? And my father just happened to understand it correctly, thus breaking the age record to become the youngest god-class operator of the Federation ...?

Considering this possibility, Ling Lan's spirits rallied. Did this mean that she was about to learn the truth of mecha control? No wonder it was said that truth was only accessible to a chosen few 1 .

Seeing the radiant light shining from Ling Lan's eyes, Ling Xiao knew his daughter had figured things out. He continued, "Have you heard of 'keeping things simple'? This phrase can also apply to mecha control."

"Does it mean that, it is actually the simplest controls that have the greatest power?" asked Ling Lan with a quirked brow.

"Hn, not quite. It should be more like, being able to control a mecha like your own limbs, using the least amount of effort to bring out the greatest efficiency of a mecha — that is what a true mecha operator needs to do." Ling Xiao shared his insights, "Those special moves which require tremendous effort with equally tremendous power are not unimportant, but they are just unnecessary outside of those life-or-death moments or some other critical juncture. Using them would just drain and damage your mecha for no reason. If you can use the simplest control methods to deal with an opponent, then why be so wasteful?"

At first, when he had clambered out of the black hole and had been faced with a sky full of enemies, he could only use grand and domineering top-class techniques to frighten the enemy forces into submission. Reality had forced Ling Xiao to use those majestic moves exclusive to god-class operators, but the associated massive drain had secretly made Ling Xiao wince as well. Even though god-class mecha could replenish their energy from the stars automatically, after those two astoundingly powerful area-of-effect attacks he had performed, his god-class mecha's energy bank had descended to a point where red warnings had been flashing ... Still, as the Federation managed to obtain the ultimate victory in that battle due to this expenditure, Ling Xiao felt that the cost was worth it.

However, this kind of operation was only applicable under that sort of critical scenario. If he had been facing a smaller group of enemies instead, Ling Xiao would never have made the same choice. Mind you, for a mecha operator, once their mecha's energy source was completely drained or was destroyed, it would mean certain death. As such, this was not something a good mecha operator should do. A good mecha operator would do their best to protect themselves even as they dealt with the enemy. They would understand that they only had one life — only by keeping this life would they be able to kill more enemies.

A flash of valour — Ling Xiao did not approve; a flare of brilliance — Ling Xiao did not feel it was worth it. Only by extending one's life could one be considered a good mecha operator, though deserters naturally did not count.

Thus, Ling Lan's fixation with chasing after grand and powerful controls had let Ling Xiao see Ling Lan's problem. This was a common issue with the Federation mecha operators — everyone felt that only the most powerful moves could represent the strength of a mecha operator, when in truth, this thinking was wrong. On the battlefield, the warriors who could survive till the end were often those mecha operators who seemed average in strength but had solid foundations. In the end, they would grow to become even stronger.

Meanwhile, those prodigious mecha operators who caused others to be in awe of them, despite possessing countless grand and elaborate moves, would often die young on the battlefield. Chasing the problem to its roots, every single case could be chalked down to depletion of energy or mecha breakdown, which led them to be struck down by their enemies to sleep forevermore among the stars.

Ling Xiao's words made Ling Lan begin to contemplate deeply. Indeed, regardless of how strong the enemy was, preserving oneself was the most crucial thing. Seeking a moment of valour and glory completely went against Ling Lan's original intentions. Ling Lan had only wanted to continue living on freely and safely; she did not want to let herself become a hero whose name would be carved on some memorial monument.

Enlightened, Ling Lan said solemnly to her father, "I understand now. From now on, I will change my fighting style. Thank you, father, for your guidance." Mecha controls which would let her continue living on was what she truly needed, as well as being the most worthy of her time.

Although her father had only said such a simple few sentences, those words had obviously included the insight Ling Xiao had gained over his 33 years of operating mecha, and so was extremely valuable. From them, Ling Lan could feel Ling Xiao's abundant fatherly love. This made Ling Lan feel extremely moved deep inside, but used to being cold and aloof, she just could not make herself do anything overly warm in response and thus could only sum up her emotions in a simple statement of thanks.

"Alright, since you understand now, then show me your foundational controls properly. I hope you won't disappoint me too much." Ling Xiao naturally could feel Ling Lan's gratitude — he had a slight smile on his lips, but his tone was still stern and grim. At this moment, in order to ensure his daughter would continue to live on safely, he chose to be a strict teacher and not a kind father.

"Yes, father!" Even as Ling Lan replied, she decisively used an advanced mecha repair kit on her mecha. After the repairs were done, the mecha's screen displayed that it was back at 100%. Even the right arm's control system which had been wrecked by Ling Xiao was restored to normal. Clenching and unclenching the mecha's right hand, Ling Lan found that there was no problem at all with its functioning; Ling Lan was extremely pleased.

Fortunately this place was the mecha world ... mecha were able to be repaired and adjusted to optimum condition in a short period of time without wasting time which could be spent on sparring. If this had been the real world, to repair a mecha and restore it to full fighting power would require quite a few hours, no matter how skilful the repair master was.

Even as Ling Lan sighed internally over how convenient the mecha world was, she controlled her mecha to pick Regretless up from the ground and slung it back over her back. Then, she assumed the most simple and unbelievably familiar stance everyone who used mecha would know.

********

The spectating Li Lanfeng and Zhao Jun saw the intermediate mecha suddenly change its initial attack style — its complex and dazzling advanced mecha skills and techniques were suddenly replaced with simplicity.

"Lanfeng, isn't this the basic assessment stance before entering Mecha World?" Zhao Jun stared at this stance which seemed so distant in memory and yet was so memorable, and could not help but ask dubiously.

Li Lanfeng responded affirmatively, "Yes, it is!" The basic assessment moves were the mecha operation movements he was most familiar with. That was the set of moves he had trained to proficiency alongside the rabbit mecha. There had even been many times when the two had challenged each other to see who could complete it faster and better. Who knew that many years after that, these basic assessment moves which could hardly be seen in Mecha World would appear right here before his eyes? This scene brought him back to that time, when he had been secretly watching the rabbit mecha train ...

While Li Lanfeng was lost in his memories, the intermediate mecha moved. It used the most basic out-toed sprinting art — this was a type of high-speed sprinting method for mecha which was also extremely stable, a basic control movement that was able to support the body in executing any type of attack. However, in the later stages, after obtaining the better criss-crossed sprinting method as well as the more advanced Z-shaped body flash art, almost all the mecha operators would scorn the out-toed sprinting art for looking crude and ungainly. Moreover, its speed and evasion ability was also no better than the other two types of sprinting control skills, and so this most basic out-toed sprinting art was set aside.

Later on, with the appearance of even more advanced skills like the Figure-8 Spin, Phantom Light Stream, Gamma Whirl, Light-and-Shadow Skim, and other high-speed flight evasion arts, this most basic out-toed sprinting art became utterly extinct among the advanced mecha warriors.

"Impossible, how can his speed be that fast?" Zhao Jun suddenly shouted in shock, startling Li Lanfeng from his reverie. Li Lanfeng eyes focused as he looked over, and sure enough, even though that intermediate mecha was using the most basic of basics, the out-toed sprint, that speed was no lesser than what they could achieve using the criss-crossed sprint or the Z-shaped body flash art at present. It could even be said that the other was one level higher; this was another reason why Zhao Jun would exclaim in such surprise.

"He's attacking now. It's the simplest bash attack." The intermediate mecha that had been running circles around the imperial mecha master suddenly drew close to the other, both fists efficiently striking out at the other's head without any bit of subterfuge.

"Using such a simple attack, how could he land a hit?" said Zhao Jun irritably. The other could obviously execute much more complex attacks, so why didn't he do so instead of using this type of attack method which was clearly not going to work?

Sure enough, the imperial mecha lifted an arm and blocked the intermediate mecha's fists. But right then, the intermediate mecha's fists retracted the moment they touched the other, and immediately after, its feet kicked off the ground and swung powerfully at the other ... It looked like that blatant dual-fist attack was actually just a feint — the true finishing move of the intermediate mecha was from its feet.

"This is the basic stomping art! Hells, what exactly is he trying to do?" Zhao Jun could not help but wrap his arms around his head and wail. He wanted to see an instructional fight, not watch as an intermediate mecha displayed the basic assessment moves one after the other ... could that even be considered a real attack?

Li Lanfeng, who had originally been responding to everything Zhao Jun said, was unusually quiet at this time. Within his cockpit, his expression was one of intense shock, filled with disbelief ...

"This is the rabbit mecha's most habitual attack move. It's also something he created. Whenever he had something he couldn't resolve, he would default to using this move ..." Across the distance of 7 years, this familiar move emerged once more before his eyes — even as it made him emotional, he was filled with shock and doubt.

********

Ling Xiao was rather taken aback by this unexpected kick of Ling Lan's because this stomping art was not an attack technique. Instead, it was a type of basic movement skill which worked together with the out-toed sprint to help shift directions and speed. Ever since the out-toed sprint fell out of favour, this stomping art had also been forgotten by the mecha operators.

Ling Xiao did not find it surprising that Ling Lan would use the stomping art, but the fact that Ling Lan had actually made some improvements to it and integrated it into her attack did surprise him. He was even greatly pleased by it — this meant that his daughter's mastery of the basic controls had already reached an apex, otherwise she could not have evolved these basic moves so naturally into attack techniques. It looked like Ling Lan had taken his legacy to heart — she had learned the foundations extremely well, securing them solidly.

"Not bad!" Ling Xiao did not hold back on giving his daughter praise, even as both his hands rose to meet Ling Lan's feet.

1. Attributed to Plato, this saying refers to how the true state of things is often first grasped by a select astute few rather than the masses.

Chapter 302 - Seven Years Ago?

There was a loud 'boom' — due to the collision this time, the intermediate mecha was sent flying back. Meanwhile, Ling Xiao's body actually wavered slightly as well due to the astounding power behind this stomping art.

"This is no ordinary stomping art ..." Ling Xiao was stunned. Could it be that his daughter had added some special technique into this stomping art?

Before Ling Xiao's astonishment could fade, something even more surprising occurred. The intermediate mecha actually flew backwards at a greater speed than that which it had used to attack Ling Xiao. In the air, Ling Lan flipped her body without trying to control the mecha, letting it careen as it would towards the walls of the private room ...

"Ah ah ah, he's going to hit the wall!" Despite being extremely dissatisfied with how the intermediate mecha was using basic assessment moves to fight, when he saw the other leave his mecha alone to let it just hurtle towards a wall at high speed, Zhao Jun was instantly yelling out in concern.

Only Ling Xiao and Li Lanfeng had a gleam of light run through their eyes at the same time, though the meaning behind each gleam was vastly different.

Ling Xiao believed his daughter was not that weak — he believed that his daughter would not really crash into the wall. On the other hand, the name of a skill which belonged solely to the rabbit mecha he knew had floated into Li Lanfeng's mind: 'Rabbit Sky Leap!' . Oftentimes when it had seemed like the situation was completely out of control at high speeds, the rabbit mecha would use this move to turn things around.

Sure enough, just as the intermediate mecha was about to slam into the wall, Ling Lan, who had long been prepared, operated the mecha's two strong and powerful legs to kick out forcefully at the wall. There was a loud 'boom', and the entire room suddenly began to shake violently, almost sending the spectating Zhao Jun's and Li Lanfeng's mecha tumbling off their feet.

Meanwhile, following this push off the wall, the intermediate mecha used this surge of rebound force to send its body shooting like lightning towards the imperial mecha standing in the middle of the stage ...

Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng reacted quickly to steady their mecha. Once they were stable once more, they turned their eyes towards the stage again and saw the intermediate mecha zipping around like lightning back and forth across the private room.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! ... the powerful sounds of collision reverberated like the wild rain of a thunderstorm within the combat room. The two mecha sparred — one as quick as lightning, its movements almost untrackable, while the other was as steady as Mount Tai 1 , taking moves as they came, unmoving as a mountain 2 .

"This is just the stomp technique, countless applications of the stomp technique ..." Zhao Jun peered closely for several 10 or so seconds, then felt his eyes were somewhat raw, with even a trace of pain. He could not help but raise his hands to rub at his eyes. It turned out that the speed of the intermediate mecha had already exceeded the capacity of Zhao Jun's motion vision — having stared intently at the screen all this time, he was now feeling rather overwhelmed.

"Yes, it's the stomp technique ..." But this was no ordinary stomp technique, otherwise that imperial mecha would not have surreptitiously shifted its original stance. In contrast to Zhao Jun's carelessness, the conscientious Li Lanfeng had caught the shift. The imperial mecha, who had initially been standing straight with its legs together, had now spread its legs, and its knees were slightly bent. This was the specific stance of a mecha stabilising its lower body. It was clear to see that the intermediate mecha's stomp technique was dealing significant impact to the imperial operator, causing the other to have no choice but to use this most stable stance while defending.

And the only one who could utilise the stomp technique so proficiently, in Li Lanfeng's memory, was the rabbit mecha and no other. Could it be that the rabbit he had searched for in these 7 long years was this intermediate mecha warrior before his eyes right now? 1 But based on the rabbit mecha's strength, he should not have remained stuck at intermediate mecha level ... One question in Li Lanfeng's heart seemed to have been answered now, but this answer merely spawned even more questions ...

Just as Zhao Jun was kneading at his eyes and while Li Lanfeng was plagued with questions, the intermediate mecha, who had been moving at high speeds all this while, suddenly dropped to land at a corner of the stage after one more violent clash with the imperial mecha. Due to its sudden stop from a high speed, the mecha was sent sliding forwards 5 metres or so before it found firm footing.

Perhaps extremely used to this type of abrupt stop from high speeds, though the intermediate mecha slid for about 5 metres, its upper body did not waver at all. This proved that this amount of slide was within the intermediate mecha's calculations.

Li Lanfeng and Zhao Jun shared a look, unsure why the intermediate mecha had suddenly chosen to stop its attack when the situation was looking so optimistic. An idea sparked through Li Lanfeng's mind. He remembered the rabbit mecha saying once that this type of high-speed stomping actually put a great burden on mecha. Trainee mecha would not be able to withstand it for long — could it be that it was the same for intermediate mecha?

Seeing this, Ling Xiao stood up from his defensive stance and said to Ling Lan with a smile, "Looks like you understand now."

"Yes, thank you, father, for your guidance," replied Ling Lan gratefully. That combination of moves she had just performed was so familiar to her they were embedded in her marrow — it was no effort at all to execute, perhaps even casual and easy.

Still, whether in terms of speed or attack power, that set of moves had not been any weaker than any of the other advanced techniques she had used previously. In fact, they could even be considered better, because she still had energy to spare in her controls, unlike before when even as she drained herself, her mecha was forced to operate over its capacity, damaging its lifespan.

This also made Ling Lan realise on a profound level what Ling Xiao's words meant. Having understood, she stopped her attack, because she had already obtained what she wanted from this instructional fight. Mission complete, it would be a waste of time to continue fighting.

Ling Lan's words made Ling Xiao's smile deepen. Ling Xiao knew very well that Ling Lan had achieved true understanding, once again proving that his daughter's learning ability was absolutely superior to others'.

"Your stomp technique should have been integrated with some other special technique. How did you think of it?" Ling Xiao was extremely curious. Mind you, those who had only begun to learn mecha control would just rotely follow instructions to complete the training exercises. Normally, they would never even think of combining or improvising on any of these controls ... Ling Lan's ability to do so undoubtedly surprised Ling Xiao greatly, because even he had not been able to do so when he had been younger.

"By coincidence. Back when I first started learning mecha control, I met someone else who had also just begun learning mecha control. The other was a control genius, able to execute each move to utter perfection. His results were very good; I was no match for him at first. This made me determined. Things he could do, what was stopping me from doing them too? So I thought hard on how to increase my mecha's speed, and worked hard to perfect my transitions between all types of actions. Without knowing it, I applied a leg technique from physical skills to my mecha control, and discovered that it actually produced a certain effect. And so, I began to experiment ..." Hiding part of the truth, Ling Lan told her father the story of her meeting with the leopard mecha 1 back then ...

As Ling Lan was telling the story, she realised that a large part of her proficiency with the basic assessment controls should definitely be credited to the leopard mecha. The other's companionship had undoubtedly made that dry and routine training time of her life become considerably more interesting. Upon closer examination, of all the basic controls Ling Lan knew now, this set of basic assessment controls was the one Ling Lan was most adept and comfortable with. This was why when Ling Xiao had insisted for Ling Lan to use basic controls, she had chosen this set without thinking. Reality proved that this was the set that had seeped into her bones, the set which had become part of her basic instinct, the set of basic controls that she had truly mastered.

Understanding all this, Ling Xiao prepared to go offline. Although he did not care much about the enlistment assessment results of the military academy, as the head of the division's assessment delegation, he should still at least show his face and ask cursorily about the results at the end of every day. Otherwise, the administrators of the school might misunderstand and assume that the 23rd Division did not care at all about the First Men's Military Academy ... In order to successfully accept his daughter into the 23rd Division later on, he needed to maintain a good relationship with the school no matter what.

After saying goodbye to his daughter, Ling Xiao instantly logged off from the private room. The next time he went online, his mecha would automatically appear within the main hall of the mecha combat hall. If Ling Lan required instruction again later, he would not have to spend the effort finding his way here anymore ...

Seeing the imperial mecha vanish, Li Lanfeng knew the pair was about to leave. Impulsively, he rushed forwards and connected to his general comms to say, "Hello, can you please wait a moment?"

Ling Lan was just about to go offline — hearing this, she paused and raised her head to look towards the advanced mecha who had spoken.

Seeing the intermediate mecha looking at him silently, Li Lanfeng hesitated for a moment, but then asked resolutely (because he did not want to miss another chance), "May I ask, 7 years ago, were you at the capital city of planet Azure?"

"Planet Azure? The capital city?" Ling Lan's face was filled with confusion. Seven years ago, she had indeed let Little Four secretly bring her out into the virtual world, but back then, the place she had asked Little Four to bring her to had been the capital city of Doha!

"Uh, Boss ... I forgot to tell you. Back when you asked me to take you to the capital, I accidentally chose planet Azure ..." Little Four, who had been drawn out by the advanced mecha warrior's question, revealed his blunder to Ling Lan.

At these words, Ling Lan instantly had her guard up. "How could he know that I was at planet Azure 7 years ago? Could it be that I was exposed somewhere?"

Little Four became agitated by this supposition — that's right, back then, he and Boss had been undercover, so how could someone else have discovered this? Little Four quickly scanned the other's spiritual power ...

"Hmm?" Li Lanfeng frowned lightly. He had sensed some strange disturbance in his surroundings, but could not say for certain what it was. Cautious and vigilant, he immediately wrapped up his spiritual power with his spectre ability. Regardless of whether he was being paranoid, Li Lanfeng's first reflex was still to choose and protect himself.

"Ah ... what a familiar energy signature!" Little Four sensed Li Lanfeng's spectre power and instantly exclaimed in shock. He swiftly dashed back into Ling Lan's mindspace and rummaged through his memory bank of energy signatures, comparing them to the energy he had sensed. Soon, he had dug up the long-buried information of the leopard mecha, that is, the spectre whom they had met back then.

"Boss, we've bumped into an old acquaintance!" replied Little Four excitedly. Because Ling Lan had forbidden him from taking the initiative to venture out and test the spiritual power of others, Little Four had not noticed anything before this even though Li Lanfeng had already been standing there for a long while. Of course, this was also because Little Four had been busy helping Ling Lan control her mecha at the time, with no mind to spare.

"Who?" asked Ling Lan, brow lifted in curiosity.

"It's that leopard mecha! That spectre who watched the mecha fight with us!" Little Four responded enthusiastically.

"So it's him ..." Ling Lan was floored. She had just been telling her father about him, and now he actually showed up? It appeared that she and this leopard were truly tied by fate.

1. 稳若泰山: Mount Tai is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Tai'an, in Shandong province, China (wikipedia, 2018). Due to its significance, it is often referred to in idioms and quotes, this being one of them. You all can check out more of them in the cultural references section on the Mount Tai wikipedia page.

2. It may seem redundant to use a mountain reference again so soon after Mount Tai, but that's what the author did. <.<

3. T/C: YES!!!

4. From this point on, the author switches from 'cheetah mecha' to 'leopard mecha'. I'll switch accordingly here, as I don't know what impact this change will have on future chapters. Past chapters will not be edited to match.

Chapter 303 - Rabbit? Leopard?

Li Lanfeng waited with bated breath for the intermediate mecha's reply, but the other was unexpectedly silent. The combat room was thrust into a still silence.

Li Lanfeng's heart drooped lower and lower as time passed — did this silence mean denial? Right then, an alert rang out suddenly inside his cockpit. Li Lanfeng clicked on the notification by reflex, and saw that it was an alert for a friend request. It was from someone called [Lingtian First-String], and there was a message included: Leopard, let's talk some other time.

Li Lanfeng's heart was instantly brimming with happiness. He tried to click on 'accept' immediately, but his initially extraordinarily nimble hands and fingers, which could execute really challenging advanced mecha warrior moves, were suddenly weak and slow. He tried tapping the screen three times in succession and actually failed every single time.

Li Lanfeng took in a deep breath, and then steadying his right hand with his left, he firmly pressed the 'accept' button.

When he saw the name [Lingtian First-String] appear on his friends list, Li Lanfeng felt his entire body go weak, his eyes beginning to prickle with warmth. He quickly raised his head, holding back the tears of joy which had been about to flow out ...

After searching for so long, he had finally reconnected this friendship which had been interrupted for 7 years! Dear Heavens, even though you were the one to condemn me to a Phoenix Thrall Fate, at this time, I still want to thank you. Thank you for giving me this chance!

Zhao Jun saw the intermediate mecha log off without answering Li Lanfeng's question and was instantly livid. "F*ck, how could he be so cold and unfeeling? Is it really that hard to answer yes or no?" Of course, he was just grumbling for the sake of it; after all, to answer or not to answer was the other's right. Zhao Jun was just irritated on behalf of his good friend Li Lanfeng. Even though Li Lanfeng had never said anything about it to him, Zhao Jun still vaguely knew that Li Lanfeng had been looking for someone in the mecha world all this time over the past four years.

Zhao Jun's disgruntled words shook Li Lanfeng from his joyful reverie. He quickly said, "No, Zhao Jun, he has already told me the answer ..."

"Huh?" Zhao Jun was flummoxed. But he clearly had not heard the other say anything ...

Li Lanfeng did not explain, only continuing on excitedly, "I'll tell you about it later. Let us go!" That said, he left the private room.

Zhao Jun could only scratch his head helplessly. Since Li Lanfeng had said he would tell him later, then he had no choice but to wait for later. Although he really would like to know now, he could do nothing since his friend was very tight-lipped 1 . Fortunately, his patience had already been trained up by hanging out with Li Lanfeng over these past few years, otherwise he would certainly have been suffocated by his need to know. At this thought, Zhao Jun could only sigh softly and follow Li Lanfeng as he left the room.

Once Ling Lan saw that the other had accepted her friend request, she had logged off. It wasn't that she did not want to catch up with the other, but her father had just logged off to hurry to the assessment venue. It would not be appropriate for her to linger here; after all, officially, she was on duty to accompany Ling Xiao.

Later on, after saying goodbye to her father, Ling Lan returned to her living quarters. At this time, Qi Long and the other five were still not back from their training classes yet. Ling Lan did not wait for them, instantly logging onto Mecha World. Ling Lan believed that that stupid leopard must definitely still be in Mecha World waiting for her.

Sure enough, the moment she was online, she received a voice message from [Self-Defined Destiny]. "Rabbit, where are you?" Damm*t, was she still a rabbit now? 1 In the past, she had already told him not to call her 'rabbit', but this fellow just would not change — doing the same even now.

Ling Lan could not help but roll her eyes. She really wanted to pretend she heard nothing, but she could hear the other's anxiety in his voice. Thinking about how they had not seen each other for 7 years and how it had indeed been extremely difficult for them to meet again, she decided to be merciful and forgive him this once. And so, Ling Lan replied coolly, "Leopard, come to the mecha combat main hall."

In less than a minute, she saw an advanced mecha entering the doors of the combat hall, sprinting over to her side. "Rabbit, I'm here." The advanced mecha ostentatiously waved at her, but that special-class mecha which had been with him was nowhere to be seen.

"Leopard, why isn't your friend here?" asked Ling Lan curiously.

"I did not know whether you would mind, so I asked him to go ahead," replied the leopard mecha, now [Self-Defined Destiny], with a smile.

Ling Lan stared flatly at [Self-Defined Destiny] — hells, did she come off as such a small-minded person? Besides, the leopard mecha was just some random stranger she had met in the virtual world ... what gave him the confidence to believe that she would rank him so important in her mind? That she would care if he had other friends? Hng hng, if he only knew she had countless little companions by her side she had grown up with, that five of them were as close and intimate with her as could be ...

As expected, the leopard mecha had an uncanny rapport with her. As if sensing Ling Lan's thoughts, he hurried to explain, "I was thinking to introduce you to him after obtaining your permission ..."

This greatly appeased Ling Lan's dragon heart 1 — so it was true that the leopard respected her immensely, just as he had back then. Nothing had changed.

Thus, Ling Lan said, "It's really fine. In future, you can just bring anyone you want to."

At these words, [Self-Defined Destiny]'s smile deepened and he replied boisterously, "Understood!"

Ling Lan rubbed her brow helplessly and asked, "How did you recognise me earlier?" This was a question both she and Little Four were wondering — after all, it's been 7 years and she had even changed her mecha; there was nothing of before. Although the other was a spectre, Little Four was certain that the other had not used his spectre abilities to check them out, so there was no reason for him to have identified her ...

"Your stomp technique is no ordinary stomp technique. In every assessment, you would use it, how could I forget it?" replied [Self-Defined Destiny] with a smile, "If you stop using it, then I would have no way to recognise you anymore." [Self-Defined Destiny] could not help but rejoice in his heart that the other had coincidentally displayed these basic controls, allowing him to find the other.

[Self-Defined Destiny]'s words enlightened Ling Lan and Little Four instantly. So it had been Ling Lan's habitual movements which had exposed her.

"I believe that, in this world, only you would know this technique. Seven years ago we lost contact, causing me to look for you for these whole seven years. And now I've finally found you," sighed [Self-Defined Destiny].

Ling Lan found herself rather embarrassed now. Over these past 7 years, she had never once logged onto Mecha World, instead spending her time completing the learning space's missions or working on her father's legacy; [Self-Defined Destiny]'s 7 years of effort could be said to be completely futile.

"Is that imperial operator from your sect?" [Self-Defined Destiny] asked curiously.

"Er ... yes," replied Ling Lan after a brief hesitation. She was not purposefully trying to hide anything, but this was her first reunion with the leopard after so long, so there were some things that just could not be explained properly. Even though she and the leopard mecha shared a great rapport and she also greatly appreciated the friendship between them, he was still someone that she had met in the virtual world after all — Ling Lan could not treat him like how she treated Qi Long and her other real world companions and trust him fully. However, Ling Lan's reply was not a lie either. She had inherited her father Ling Xiao's legacy, so of course she belonged to the same sect as her father.

"I had thought so with just one glance. Every move of that imperial operator was utilising the 4 simplest basic movements in defensive controls — block, push, obstruct, and hold 1 . Without using any bit of extraneous force, minimalist to the extreme ... it's like what you told me at the start. Completely mastering the basic controls and using them harmoniously, making them truly part of our natural instinct," exclaimed [Self-Defined Destiny] in awe.

Ling Lan was startled by these words, and quickly asked, "Our fight, did you record it?"

[Self-Defined Destiny] replied sheepishly, "I'm sorry, without obtaining permission, I recorded it. If you mind, I'll immediately delete it."

"No need. I only hope you can make a copy for me. I would also like to take a look." Even though Little Four had also recorded the fight, there were some things that just could not be seen clearly from a first-person perspective. Perhaps viewing the fight from a third-person perspective would allow her to see things clearer.

"Okay." [Self-Defined Destiny] immediately sent the video file over to Ling Lan. When Ling Lan received it, she instantly opened it and began to watch it.

Li Lanfeng saw [Lingtian First-String] become still and silent, and just knew that the other must be fully absorbed in watching the video. He smiled knowingly — he was just too familiar with this state of the rabbit. Oftentimes, when the rabbit had learnt a new movement or had a good idea or some insight, he would descend into this sort of acutely focused state, as if no one else existed around him. This brought Li Lanfeng back to the beginning ... every time this happened, he would always sit silently beside the rabbit mecha and wait patiently for the rabbit mecha to surface from his thoughts.

After approximately 5 minutes, Li Lanfeng finally heard [Lingtian First-String] sigh and say, "As expected, from your perspective, his impressiveness is even more pronounced."

Only now did Ling Lan feel how amazing her father Ling Xiao was. Now her father's basic controls were what could truly be called the best of the best. Even though it had only been the simplest of defensive motions, whether it was the timing of the interception or the motion itself, everything was perfectly calculated. Each defensive move had been applied when her power was at its weakest point. Moreover, each time, the hand motions of Ling Xiao's mecha had been extremely small — it was clear to see that the drain on the mecha's energy had been contained at the minimum baseline. Ling Lan believed that even if her father had been controlling a trainee mecha against her barrage of wild attacks, he would still be able to block and defend against them all using the least amount of energy.

Her father's control was what could truly be called basic controls. Compared to her father, Ling Lan's basic controls were undoubtedly still much too fancy and elaborate; compared to her father, she still had a really long way to go.

"The imperial operator is naturally very impressive. Basic controls are truly very interesting. In future, I must learn from you and use lower mecha to train my advanced mecha basic controls and techniques. This way, I should be able to experience more of the true essence of basic controls." [Self-Defined Destiny] stared at Ling Lan with starry eyes, as if saying, wasn't he such a smart cookie?

Ling Lan could not help but sweatdrop, uncertain how she should respond. Was she supposed to say that she had only done so because she did not have enough points accumulated to redeem a better mecha?

Still, thinking about it, using a lower mecha to execute advanced mecha techniques did indeed demand a lot from the operator. It was very challenging, which was not a bad thing for an operator, and may perhaps truly aid him in his development. At this thought, Ling Lan decided not to say anything. This was because she also really did not know how to explain to the other why she still did not have enough points to redeem an advanced mecha after these 7 years.

Just like this, because Ling Lan did not know how to explain and also felt that this was harmless to the other, she chose to remain silent. This led Li Lanfeng to think that his assumption was correct, thus pushing him onto this path of no return, eventually leading to the creation of a legendary path belonging solely to himself ...

1. 锯嘴葫芦: The original phrase used here describes Li Lanfeng as 'a gourd with a sawn off mouth', a phrase used to refer to quiet and untalkative people.

2. T/C: To be fair, Ling Lan, you did call him leopard first. That aside, this is probably completely off-topic (and off-character), but I had hoped to translate them calling each other 'bun-bun' and 'chee-chee' (short for bunny and cheetah) back when, y'know, leopard was still cheetah. :p Not ever gonna happen now.

3. A subtle reference to Ling Lan's heart of an emperor/empress, perhaps? Dragons have often been associated with royalty in ancient China.

4. 挡,推,阻,拦: This was certainly a challenge to translate, since 3 of the 4 words are essentially called the same thing in English — block. =.=

Chapter 304 - A Strange and Wondrous Misunderstanding!

"Right, do you have a battle clan in Mecha World? I don't have one yet, so if you still have a spot open in yours, why don't you add me?" Li Lanfeng did not want to once again be passing strangers with his rabbit. He had not joined any battle clans thus far because — for one, he was afraid of exposing himself, and two, hadn't he been hoping for this precise scenario all this while? He only wanted to join the rabbit mecha's battle clan, even if the entire battle clan was made up of only the rabbit mecha ...

"Uh, I'm in the process of building one ..." Ling Lan had not expected that the leopard still had not joined a battle clan after these 7 years apart. Could it be that he had not enrolled into a military academy that year, instead choosing to go to a co-ed general academy? Or was he perhaps just a casual 1 mecha operator? Otherwise, with the other's control skills, it was impossible that no one wanted him.

Only military academies had battle clans, because all the cadets at military academies would eventually be Federation soldiers in future. The battle clan a cadet establishes at school would be extended into the army divisions they enlist into later and be expanded further there. In contrast, the students from a co-ed general academy may not necessarily become a soldier in future, hence they also did not have the right to form battle clans.

Of course, this did not mean that these students had no chance of joining battle clans — some mecha operators who liked mecha piloting would just sign up to join some battle clans that lacked members. Of course, no matter how skilled these people were in control skills, they would never become permanent members of a battle clan. The reason was simple — whether it was at present or in the future, they would never be military personnel. Only if they were willing to serve in the army later on and became proper soldiers would they then have the right to become permanent members of a battle clan.

Ling Lan was well aware that many mecha battle clans in Mecha World were extensions of mecha battle clans in the real world. In saying this, [Self-Defined Destiny] was basically confirming that he was similarly without a battle clan in the real world. This pretty much proved that [Self-Defined Destiny] was probably not a military academy student. Otherwise, with his abilities, even if he did not join any other battle clans, he was fully capable of making one of his own.

Ling Lan, who was originally planning to ask which school [Self-Defined Destiny] was studying at, found herself not daring to ask now. She was afraid she would hurt the other's feelings. Based on the leopard's passion and seriousness in honing his mecha control skills, Ling Lan knew very well that, if at all possible, the leopard would definitely want to study at a military academy.

"In the process of building?" Li Lanfeng was taken aback by Ling Lan's answer.

Someone who could enter the virtual world to learn mecha controls 7 years ago should be about his age, or perhaps even a little older than him ... why had the other not built a battle clan up till now? Could it be that the other was not a military academy cadet, or perhaps did not manage to enrol into a military academy to begin with and could only attend a general academy? And now he had become an official soldier so he could finally build a battle clan?

Li Lanfeng, who had wanted to ask the rabbit which school he was attending, hesitated. What if the other asked him the same question in return after? When the other found out that he was studying at the First Men's Military Academy, would the other's heart be pierced through by a heavy arrow?

"Then, when you build it, can you keep a spot for me?" After some consideration, Li Lanfeng decided not to ask this sensitive question, instead choosing to ask to join Ling Lan's battle clan in a serious manner. In Li Lanfeng's heart, even if the rabbit was just a small foot soldier, he would still be willing to become a member of the other's battle clan and follow the rabbit onto the battlefield to fight together.

"Uh, okay, will you become a soldier in the future?" asked Ling Lan carefully. If the leopard had not given up, replying yes, she would save a permanent member's spot for him. Later, once he entered the military, he could join officially. If not, she could only regretfully give the leopard a temporary contract. Ling Lan needed to take responsibility on behalf of all of the other members of her battle clan.

Ling Lan's question stumped Li Lanfeng for a beat, but he quickly figured out the reason behind it and replied firmly, "Of course." As expected, the rabbit was currently a soldier! Li Lanfeng was glad that he had not asked impulsively.

"That's fine then. There'll be a spot for you in my battle clan." Ling Lan let out a sigh of relief. She was well aware of the leopard mecha's raw talent and abilities in control — he was definitely no weaker than Qi Long. If the leopard could join, it would be much better than finding someone unfamiliar. She believed that Qi Long and the others would not dislike the leopard's character and temperament.

For some reason, Ling Lan had boundless confidence in the leopard, believing that he could definitely obtain the acknowledgement of the other clan members.

"We'll go to the 23rd Division," cautioned Ling Lan. She did not know how old the leopard was, whether the other was already at the age of enlistment. In any case, she wanted to notify the other so he did not apply for the wrong division. Four years later, when they went to the 23rd Division, even if the leopard was still a foot soldier, she could use her authority to transfer the leopard to her side so he could officially join her battle clan.

"Yes, understood," Li Lanfeng responded happily. He had originally planned to apply for enlistment at the 1st Division, but now decisively switched his goal for next year to enter the 23rd Division and then wait for his rabbit to find him.

Thus, the both of them gingerly avoided asking about school, each thinking that they were right in their assumptions about the other. In this manner, they missed their earliest chance to truly discover the truth about each other ... it had to be said that Ling Lan and Li Lanfeng did indeed have amazing rapport with one another — even their misunderstandings synced up with one another.

"That special-class mecha friend of yours ... could it be that he also has no battle clan? Won't he invite you to stay together?" Ling Lan recalled the special-class mecha that had been together with [Self-Defined Destiny], which had also been very strong, and could not help but ask curiously.

"He and I both do not have official battle clans, though he is temporarily contracted to a mecha battle clan. The contract will automatically dissolve next year. If your battle clan still has a spot at that time, please add him too. Of course, if you feel that that's inappropriate, you can first make a temporary contract. Like me, he'll also become a soldier in the future." Only then did Li Lanfeng remember there was still Zhao Jun to consider, so he quickly explained, suggesting a temporary contract on his own at the same time.

Li Lanfeng knew well that he wanted to follow the rabbit mecha because of that wonderful affinity and rapport he had with the other, which was carved deeply into his heart to this very day. However, Zhao Jun had no ties whatsoever to the rabbit mecha — he could neither trouble the rabbit mecha nor decide Zhao Jun's future for him. After all, the rabbit could very well just be a small foot soldier, and based on Zhao Jun's current power level, he would at least obtain the rank of first lieutenant. Therefore, if Zhao Jun and the rabbit intended to collaborate, signing a temporary contract would be beneficial for both sides.

Li Lanfeng was not someone who needed to push all his friends into one clan — he knew very well that interpersonal relationships required affinity. He was certain that, for the sake of the rabbit mecha, he could compromise and tolerate things that he typically would not tolerate. He had already made up his mind that, even if the rabbit's battle clan consisted of a whole team of foot soldiers, he would still lower himself and curry favour with them in order to obtain their acknowledgement. This all stemmed from his determination to follow the rabbit which had been established 7 years ago. In the face of this type of conviction, all tribulations were but passing clouds.

"Hn, let's talk about it when the time comes. Right now, I have 5 other companions who should all be permanent members of the battle clan in future. Adding you, there should still be a few slots for a 12-man team. Oh, there are also two others who I have my eye on, though I still haven't asked them whether they're willing to join ... if the clan is still not full yet next year, ask your friend over to try out. If everyone is satisfied, then let's stay together." Ling Lan did not refuse Zhao Jun outright. After all, Zhao Jun was already a special-class operator at present; meanwhile, the support member candidates of the clan was pretty much settled, so all they needed to add were specialized mecha operators. Thus, Zhao Jun was undoubtedly extremely suitable.

"Oh, alright!" answered Li Lanfeng immediately, decisively agreeing on behalf of Zhao Jun. Zhao Jun did not have a battle clan for next year anyway, so it should not be a problem for him to hang out with Li Lanfeng for a bit. Hearing that the rabbit also had his eye on two other people, Li Lanfeng asked, "Who are the other two? Also people in Mecha World?"

"One of them is called [No Mecha Unrepaired], from Mecha World. As for whether the other has an ID in Mecha World, I can't be sure. He's a genius here on our end," replied Ling Lan.

"[No Mecha Unrepaired], this name is really familiar ..." Li Lanfeng paused over the name for a bit, then suddenly recalled it. Wasn't he that genius mecha engineer-mechanic who the Thunder King had his eye on? At the start, in order to get him, the Thunder King had gone so far as to seal off all the other's resources within Mecha World, causing the other to fail his assessment two years in a row. If the other had failed just one more time, he would have been expelled from the First Men's Military Academy ...

"[No Mecha Unrepaired] is from the Mecha Engineering specialization in the First Men's Military Academy ..." muttered Li Lanfeng softly.

"Oh, so you've heard of him!" said Ling Lan in surprise, "Yes, he's that prodigy of the Mecha Engineering specialization in the First Men's Military Academy. He was pressured by the Thunder King, and I just happened to help him out by escorting him to Suncreed City. I wonder if he would be willing to join my battle clan."

"So the one who helped him to Suncreed City was you ..." Li Lanfeng gaped at the mecha before him. The Thunder King had been livid over the matter, but no matter how much manpower or material resources he invested into finding the person who helped [No Mecha Unrepaired], he just could not find them. This forced the Thunder King to have no choice but to suck it up in silence — Li Lanfeng recalled how pleased he himself had been when he had found out about it back then.

Sure enough, his rabbit was his god of luck. Even though they had not recognised each other yet back then, the rabbit had still helped him to inflict a round of torment on the Thunder King. Li Lanfeng stared at the intermediate mecha across from him with grateful eyes but kept this appreciation to himself.

"I think he should be willing to join," said Li Lanfeng with a smile. The rabbit was the benefactor of [No Mecha Unrepaired] — this personal debt would have already made it hard for the other to refuse to begin with. On top of that, the rabbit was inviting him to join his battle clan, which was also a form of acknowledgement as well as a form of assistance.

Mind you, although all the other factions in the academy also coveted [No Mecha Unrepaired]'s engineering abilities, they did not dare to offend the Thunder King. Thus, no battle clan had invited [No Mecha Unrepaired] into their ranks. Without the assistance of any battle clan, even if he passed the assessment this year, the next few years would be very tough for him as some assessments would require the collaboration of a battle clan to complete ... the rabbit's invitation would definitely be a lifeline 1 which the other would never refuse.

"I hope things turn out as you say." Ling Lan felt that it was about time for her to really build her battle clan now. Even though she still could not officially set one up in the school, she could start testing things out in Mecha World, as well as let Qi Long and the others get to know the leopard a bit.

Just like this, Ling Lan and Li Lanfeng arranged a time for their next meeting in Mecha World and then respectively logged off.

The moment Ling Lan logged off, she found that Qi Long and the others had returned. So, she called them all over and solemnly declared that, within Mecha World, she would officially establish their battle clan —— Lingtian!

There was no helping it. This bunch of brats had long decided on this ostentatious name. Otherwise, why would they have chosen to style their usernames in 'Lingtian XXX' fashion? If she did not give their battle clan this name, this bunch of brats would definitely flip the table!

1. i.e. non-professional; doing it just as a hobby.

2. 救命天梯: Literal translation for this phrase would be 'life-saving ladder from the heavens'. Meaning as translated.

Chapter 305 - Interrogation!

Late afternoon in Mecha World, Grandsweep City. This city was a large city filled with missions. Right now, quite a few mecha were sprawled about relaxing at a wide plaza not too far from the city gates. There were also some who were standing around idly, resting with their eyes closed.

These mecha were mostly advanced mecha, though there was also a small number of lower mecha and intermediate mecha among them. Some of them had perhaps taken some time from their afternoon to come here and rest, but many more were here to look for comrades with aligned goals, or perhaps to wait to join any team preparing to complete missions but lacked members. This could be their chance to join a battle clan ...

That's right. This was the assembly ground of unaffiliated mecha operators. Without a battle clan, whenever they had free time, they would come here to try their luck, to see if they had any chance to join some battle clan. Even a temporary one would be better than not being part of any battle clan. To become stronger, joining a battle clan was a necessary choice. Upon successfully obtaining an advanced mecha, to become stronger, one would need venture into even tougher areas to complete the missions there, and all of this came with the prerequisite of having a battle clan — otherwise, you could not even accept these missions to begin with, and so would have no way of entering those treacherous areas.

As mentioned previously, not everyone would be able to join a battle clan, as establishing a battle clan was the special right belonging only to military academy cadets or army men. Thus, the number of unaffiliated mecha operators in Mecha World was immense.

In one corner of the plaza, a line of standard advanced mecha were seated in a row on the ground. They were all seated in the same position, their chins propped on their hands. Five mecha in the exact same stance stood out quite a bit — they were obviously part of the same mecha clan. This caused the other surrounding mecha to stare from the corner of their eyes, filled with envy; quite a number of mecha even semi-casually strolled by before them, hoping to attract the five mecha's attention.

This was because three mecha were all that was needed to form a mecha squad, while six mecha could form a miniature battle clan. The unaffiliated mecha were all guessing whether the five mecha were looking for a final member before going for the mission to establish their battle clan. Regardless of whether they were or they weren't, as long as the possibility existed, all the unaffiliated mecha hoped that the final lucky one would be themselves.

Meanwhile, at this time, the private comms channel of the five mecha was extraordinarily lively.

"Ah ah ah, why isn't Boss here yet?" [Lingtian Combat]'s voice, that is, the hearty volume of Qi Long's throat, instantly drowned out the softer tones of the others' chatter.

"Boss said 1300 hours 1 . Right now, it's only 1247. There's still 13 minutes left. What are you impatient about?" As his sworn brother, Han Jijyun, who was called [Lingtian Abacus] in Mecha World, rebuked without mercy. When would this fellow be just a little more calm and composed like Boss? Only knowing how to fool outsiders with that earnest and sincere face of his.

"Can't you see I'm just excited?! We're about to make a battle clan now! I'm really looking forward to it, and we're going to have a few new people too!" At this point, Qi Long suddenly began to snicker.

This caused the faces of the others to spasm involuntarily. In particular, Li Shiyu's darkened expression emerged at the forefront of Luo Lang's mind. Once again, he could not help but lament silently for Li Shiyu. Who asked him to catch the eye of their boss ... this was his fate!

Luo Lang's mind began to replay that scene which had happened back at the Military Medical Research Centre ...

********

Entirely shrouded in cold air, Ling Lan heaved Qi Long, who was typically loud and brash but was currently curled up into a miserable ball of pain, over a shoulder and charged aggressively towards the Military Medical Research Centre with Luo Lang and the others trailing behind her.

Luo Lang and the others actually did not know why Qi Long had suddenly fallen ill, but Boss Lan had said that it was time to seek out Li Shiyu. On the way, they learned of Boss Lan's objective for this excursion. He was planning to break the unspoken rule upheld all this time within the military academy — the rule which stated that the students of the Military Medical Research specialization were not to participate in any faction so they could maintain their neutrality.

Yes, Boss Lan, who was about to establish a battle clan ahead of time in Mecha World, was planning to bring the dux of the Military Medical Research specialization Li Shiyu into his clan. This seemingly impossible goal of Ling Lan's astounded Han Jijyun, Luo Lang, and the others. Yet, after their shock had faded, they were consumed with excitement. If Boss Lan actually succeeded, this would definitely be a grand feat! Only Boss Lan would dare to even think of something like this and actually do it ... In their minds, as long as Boss Lan wanted to do it, nothing was impossible.

It had to be said that Ling Lan's many grand achievements had filled Han Jijyun, Luo Lang, and the others' confidence in her to the brim. They believed that it was impossible for their Boss Lan to fail.

Ling Lan strode right up to the doors of the Military Medical Research Centre, and without any pause to think, she sent the door flying open with a forceful kick.

A loud crash rang out. This abrupt scene along with the sudden loud crash caused all the staff and students of the military medicine specialization to instantly cower down in fear. They had mistakenly assumed that the school was being attacked by an unidentified enemy.

Luo Lang and the others following behind Ling Lan looked at the rampaging Ling Lan before them, who looked like he had crawled out from the depths of hell, and their bodies trembled uncontrollably. Despite knowing that the wrath of their boss was faked, right then, they too were affected by the heavy aggression seeping out from their boss's body, cold sweat breaking out along their back.

In the Military Medical Research Centre, the only one still standing upright with a calm and fearless expression was their dux Li Shiyu. Expression stony, he stared at Ling Lan who had vandalised the doors of the centre and said through gritted teeth, "Ling Lan, are you insane? What do you take this place for?"

"Insane? You should rejoice that I'm not insane, just a little bit angry ... or else, I won't be able to guarantee what I'll do. Li Shiyu, I trusted you, but how have you repaid this trust of mine? Once, twice, my brothers have been presented with problems because of your treatment. Shouldn't you be giving me an explanation? Hm?" said Ling Lan coldly. Her icy gaze and these words instantly doused the rage in Li Shiyu's heart.

"What are you trying to say? What's happened this time?" said Li Shiyu with a slight frown, resigned. Right now, he rather regretted agreeing to rescue Ling Lan's brothers back then out of a moment of soft-hearted weakness. Now it seemed as if this punk had latched onto him — whenever anything happened to Ling Lan's brothers, the other just loved to come and trouble him. In spite of Ling Lan's extremely discourteous attitude, Li Shiyu did not lose his composure, still calmly asking Ling Lan about the situation.

A trace of approval flashed across Ling Lan's cool gaze. As a military doctor, one needed to be level-headed in extreme situations. Even when facing a teammate's doubts and critique, they must be able to calmly explain their thought process and the sequence of events. Only then would they be able to obtain their teammates' trust. Undoubtedly, Li Shiyu was doing this extremely well — as expected of a prodigy of military medicine. For him, expending all this time and effort was worth it.

Ling Lan tamped down on the approval in her heart, and continued to say with a frigid expression, "Setting aside Luo Lang's relapse, I would never have expected the same thing to happen to Qi Long after his recovery. Dux Li, you owe me an explanation." Her words had barely faded when Ling Lan came to stand before Li Shiyu, where she then set down the suffering Qi Long and indicated for Li Shiyu to take a look.

Ling Lan's words made Li Shiyu's fair face flush bright red instantly. This horrible junior actually doubted his treatment abilities again and again ... this was definitely an insult to his professionalism. No matter how calm and composed Li Shiyu was, he could not help but feel rage surging into his chest.

Even so, Li Shiyu was unable to refuse Qi Long treatment. As long as a patient was before him, as a military doctor, he needed to cast aside all personal enmity and save the patient to the best of his ability. He quickly stepped forward and gripped Qi Long's hand, feeling at his pulse point. And then, Li Shiyu's countenance shifted slightly once more — he had actually sensed the customary reaction from using the gene agent S-modification they had developed from the reading of Qi Long's pulse. Cold sweat instantly broke out all over Li Shiyu's body — could it be that the gene agent S-modification still retained some problematic side issues? But their previous trials had not revealed any sign of this sort of situation?

Li Shiyu was rather uncertain now. He immediately asked the staff to lay Qi Long into a healing pod and treated Qi Long with special restorative agents. Initially shivering uncontrollably from the pain, Qi Long's tortured expression began to ease slowly after 10 or so seconds of this treatment. It looked like the restorative agent was effective.

"I want to know. What medical agent did you give my brothers exactly? Why would such a situation occur?" Ling Lan saw Qi Long's condition turn for the better and the ice on her face thawed considerably. Her tone and demeanour when asking Li Shiyu this was clearly a little warmer.

Li Shiyu was silent for a moment before he answered, "Once his condition is better, I will conduct a comprehensive examination on him. Only at that time will I know what the true reason for this is."

That said, Li Shiyu no longer paid any attention to Ling Lan. He immediately contacted the few specialization instructors he worked with. When his instructors heard of Qi Long's reaction, they were instantly anxious, agreeing to come over immediately so they could study this unique case together.

Ling Lan heard Li Shiyu calling for his instructors to come study together, and despite being as calm as ever on the surface, her heart could not help but pound and feel ill at ease.

Little Four sensed Ling Lan's concern and immediately piped up to reassure her, "Boss, please don't worry. I have found all their data on the gene agent S-modification. After purifying and improving the gene agents daddy secretly brought us this time, the medical properties of the agents are definitely the same as their gene agent S-modification. They will never discover or suspect anything." While saying this, Little Four's tone was extremely proud. With regards to the purification of gene agents, there was absolutely no one who could beat him, Little Four.

Ling Lan relaxed with Little Four's assured guarantee. Frankly, even if she was still worried, it was too late to do anything about it now. The arrow had already been notched and the bow pulled taut, they could only fire the arrow. At this point, even if their scheme was seen through by the opponent, they could only grit their teeth and lie all the way.

Therefore, Ling Lan continued to stand there with a cold expression. Meanwhile, Luo Lang and the others were really unsure what was happening with Qi Long, so there was no expression other than worry on their faces. Li Shiyu, who had been silently observing them, felt fear creeping over him. Could it be that Qi Long's condition was real? Was it really the fault of their research centre?

Very soon, the instructors had all arrived. In the meantime, Qi Long's condition had improved considerably; he was no longer in the agonizing pain he had been in at the start. Subsequently, the instructors began to do all sorts of tests on Qi Long — those who drew blood, drew blood, while those who ran numbers, ran numbers. The reports were out very quickly. They discovered that all the reactions Qi Long were displaying were definitely in line with the customary reaction from injecting the gene agent S-modification.

This diagnosis caused their complexions to pale drastically. Could it be that this gene agent S-modification actually had a latency period and would trigger and break out every so often? This was undoubtedly a very serious latent issue, proving that their gene agent S-modification was greatly flawed.

1. i.e. 1 p.m.