Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr Receiving this notification, Qiao Ting's brow furrowed. He pondered for a moment and then turned to look at Ling Lan to say, "Regiment Commander Ling, according to this notification, Zhang Jing-an's mecha should have a problem with its safety features. Is there a problem with the monitoring system? Or with the control system? Or perhaps … "Qiao Ting's expression darkened and his voice lowered as he said," There was a problem with the mecha to begin with? "
At this time, Ling Lan had already obtained the judgement of Ling Xiao and the vice-president through her connections with Little Four. She suppressed her anger and replied coldly, "Perhaps, anything is possible!"
Ling Lan's words made Qiao Ting's expression turn serious. He was just about to continue his discussion with Ling Lan when right then, the people watching the livestream backstage began to shout in surprise, "General Ling Xiao, General Ling Xiao is here …"
Ling Lan and the others looked over and saw that on the screen, Ling Xiao and the vice-president were walking side by side, with quite a number of officials following behind them. Among them, Ling Lan also saw a familiar face — it was that confidential secretary He Xuyang who had once come to her family's old mansion. He had now become Ling Xiao's number one confidential staff officer in the 23rd Division.
This He Xuyang should have already passed Ling Xiao's test and become one of Ling Xiao's trusted aides. Otherwise, Ling Xiao would not have brought him along to planet Qiming. Meanwhile, that Adjutant Qiao whom Ling Xiao had once brought to the First Men's Military Academy was nowhere to be seen on this trip. It looked like there was something wrong with that Adjutant Qiao. However, she did not know whether her dad was giving the other the cold shoulder or had already dealt with him completely.
At this time, the group had already arrived at the entrance of a passageway. The people here were all very familiar with this passageway — it was the passageway that led to their backstage.
Ling Lan's heart thumped as she secretly guessed the reason her dad had come backstage. Could it be because she was here? Ling Lan felt that this was really possible.
When Ling Xiao and the others entered the backstage, no one dared to act rashly. They were afraid of offending General Ling Xiao. Even if he dared to move, the guards who came in before Ling Xiao would definitely stop him. Everyone looked at Ling Xiao with reverence and followed his footsteps.
Ling Xiao's goal for this trip was very clear — the First Men's Military Academy. Without any hesitation, he headed straight for the First Men's Military Academy. No one was surprised by Ling Xiao's actions. The First Men's Military Academy was in trouble, so it was normal for him to go over and comfort them. Besides, General Ling Xiao was a graduate of the First Men's Military Academy. It was reasonable for him to show concern for his juniors.
Seeing this, the vice president smiled and followed closely behind Ling Xiao to the side of the First Men's Military Academy. The vice president's original goal for this trip was also the First Men's Military Academy. He had to represent the government and show some concern and comfort.
Seeing Ling Xiao slowly approach, Qiao Ting and the others were very excited. When Ling Xiao walked up to them, the five of them stood at attention with a "clap" and raised their hands in salute. They shouted in unison, "General, good day!"
Ling Xiao returned the salute with a serious expression. When he lowered his right hand, his expression relaxed and he said gently, "That student just now, although he is badly injured, with the healing abilities of the Federation, he will definitely be healed. Don't worry."
"Thank you, General!" Qiao Ting and the other four calmed down and then replied in unison.
Ling Xiao's first sentence was to tell them about Zhang Jing-an's situation. Qiao Ting and the others were secretly grateful for General Ling Xiao's thoughtfulness. He knew what they were most worried about and immediately gave them an answer.
General Ling Xiao's gentle gaze swept over the five of them, pausing briefly on Ling Lan. However, he quickly moved on to the next person. Finally, Ling Xiao's gaze landed on Qiao Ting and he said, "You should be Qiao Ting, right?"
"Yes, General!" Qiao Ting was overjoyed. He had not expected General Ling Xiao to know his name as well. Suppressing his overflowing excitement, Qiao Ting forced himself to remain calm and puffed out his chest.
"I've seen your individual combat matches. Not bad, keep up the good work!" General Ling Xiao praised.
Qiao Ting immediately replied, "Yes, General!" Unexpectedly, General Ling Xiao not only knew his name, but also praised him. This fact made Qiao Ting so excited that he almost lost his composure. He tried his best to restrain himself, barely managing to keep his emotions in check.
Ling Xiao's gaze then fell on Ling Lan and the others. Smiling, he asked, "Who should go up next?"
Mu Shaoyu raised his hand excitedly and shouted, "Reporting to the General, it's me."
Ling Xiao looked at Mu Shaoyu. Beside him, the number one confidential staff officer He Xuyang immediately moved closer to Ling Xiao and reminded him in a low voice. As he retreated, he glanced at Ling Lan standing beside Mu Shaoyu with a smile in his eyes.
"As expected, like father, like son!" He Xuyang thought to himself. He still remembered that Young Master Lan was still a second-year cadet. To be able to participate in the group mecha combat competition as a second-year, Young Master Lan's mecha piloting talent was probably not any worse than General Ling Xiao's.
General Ling Xiao smiled and nodded, saying, "Mu Shaoyu, isn't that right? You guys have already lost two matches. If you lose again, the two behind you won't be able to go up. In order to not be grumbled by them, you'll have to work hard. "
Ling Xiao's slightly joking words relaxed Mu Shaoyu's nervous mood considerably. He replied loudly, "General, I promise to complete the mission." He turned to look at Ling Lan and Qiao Ting, then raised his chin and said confidently, "I will let them go up."
Ling Xiao looked at Ling Lan, his eyes filled with a loving smile. This look almost made Ling Lan think that Ling Xiao would call out "child", but unexpectedly, Ling Xiao only said, "Perform well!"
Ling Lan was the calmest of the five. Hearing this, she replied calmly, "Yes, General!"
Her stern face did not reveal any emotion at all. This made Ling Xiao, who had been paying close attention to Ling Lan, feel a little discouraged. How could his daughter be so calm? Although the others tried their best to control themselves, their true feelings could still be seen at a glance. Only Ling Lan did not reveal any emotion at all, making Ling Xiao unable to figure out what she was thinking. Could it be that his arrival did not make his daughter happy and excited at all? Ling Xiao was full of resentment.
Seeing that Ling Xiao had finished expressing his condolences, the vice president followed suit, letting the members of the First Men's Military Academy feel the concern from both the military and the government.
Right then, the two mecha safety monitoring experts who had been urgently called over came backstage to inspect the mecha of the two mecha operators who were about to go up for battle. Seeing that General Ling Xiao and the vice president were present, they immediately came to report. Then, under General Ling Xiao's orders, they separately went to inspect Mu Shaoyu's mecha and the third mecha from the Tongli Military Academy.
Seeing that the backstage was starting to get busy, the vice president was just about to suggest whether they should leave first when Ling Xiao suddenly turned to ask the five members of the First Men's Military Academy, "Who will be going up after Mu Shaoyu?"
Ling Lan instantly felt exasperated at this question. D * mmit, she just did not believe that her dad had not managed to get his hands on their name list. However, she knew that this was probably her dad trying to find a way to talk to her, so she raised her hand and replied, "Reporting to the general, it's me."
After getting the answer he wanted, Ling Xiao turned to the vice president and said, "Sir Vice President, I would really like to see the cockpits of the other contestants. Why don't we take this opportunity to take a look at this student's mecha as well?"
Hearing this, the vice president's expression turned serious and he replied, "That's exactly what I was thinking."
The conversation between Ling Xiao and the vice president stunned Ling Lan for a moment, and a warm feeling welled up in her heart. Ling Xiao had not come backstage just to see her; his main purpose was to inspect her cockpit. Ling Lan knew that Ling Xiao was worried, worried about leaving his daughter's safety in the hands of others. He wanted to inspect it personally, and in order to achieve this goal, he had racked his brains, patiently waiting for the best opportunity.
Ling Lan suppressed the warmth in her heart and led Ling Xiao, the vice president, and the others to the mecha she would be piloting.
This time, Ling Lan did not choose an ace mecha, choosing a special-class mecha that was well-rounded instead of the close-combat mecha she usually piloted. Ling Lan had her own reasons for choosing this mecha. In this period of time, she had sorted out the legacy information of her dad in the virtual space and found that on the battlefield, the more trump cards one had, the easier it was for them to survive. This made her reflect on whether she had been too biased towards close-combat and neglected long-range combat.
Indeed, it was indeed easier to reach the peak by focusing on one aspect, and many people who wanted to develop in a balanced manner often ended up falling into mediocrity, vanishing from the masses. In the history of mecha piloting, of all the people who had become god-class operators, Ling Xiao was the only one who had mastered a balanced mecha!
Not everyone was Ling Xiao! Ling Lan also understood this. She would not dream of being like her dad, who was proficient in everything. She only wanted to improve her long-range attacks so that it could become her trump card at a crucial moment.
It was this thinking that made Ling Lan choose this balanced mecha. There were no problems in piloting it. In the learning space, Instructor Number Three had not just asked her to operate a series of mecha. She had practised with all the mecha models, but her talent was in close-combat and her long-range attacks were much weaker. Among the 10 people in Ling Lan's battle clan, Ling Lan's long-range attacks could only be ranked fifth at most... Li Lanfeng, Han Jijun, and Lin Zhong-qing were all better than her. Even Li Shiyu, who did not specialise in mecha piloting, was better than her in long-range attacks.
Ling Lan was only better than the close-combat focused Zilong, Zhao Jun, Xie Yi, and Chang Xinyuan, whose talent in piloting was terrible to begin with. As for Luo Lang, it depended on what personality he had awakened. If he had awakened a personality suitable for long-range attacks, then his long-range attacks would still be better than Ling Lan's. Thus, Ling Lan's long-range attack talent could at most be considered above average. It definitely had no chance of reaching the top.
However, giving up like this was not Ling Lan's personality. Ling Lan decided to spend some time to hone her long-range abilities. No matter what, she would squeeze into the top three of the battle clan...
Ling Xiao looked at this mecha and looked at Ling Lan thoughtfully. Ling Lan saw the satisfaction and satisfaction in her father's eyes and instantly understood. She began to panic internally. "Dad, don't think too highly of yourself. Choosing a balanced mecha has absolutely nothing to do with you!"
Really nothing to do with him? In the mindspace, Little Four mischievously simulated Ling Xiao's image and asked faintly.
In the mindspace, Ling Lan rolled her eyes and flicked a finger over, causing Little Four to return to its original form. Alright, it was just a little bit related. After all, she had received a reminder from Ling Xiao's legacy. Ling Lan admitted it honestly.
Ling Xiao was personally inspecting Ling Lan's mecha. This news made everyone excited. They all crowded around the mecha. If it wasn't for Ling Xiao's guards stopping them, they would probably have surrounded the bottom of the mecha.
Ling Xiao stayed in Ling Lan's cockpit for about 10 minutes. This time was much longer than the time it would take for the specialists to inspect him. The specialists who had already finished inspecting Mu Shaoyu's mecha were now beginning to inspect Qiao Ting's mecha.
When Ling Xiao emerged from the cockpit, his face was rather pale. This made the vice president nervous, and he hurried forward to ask, "General Ling, is there a problem?" One mecha could still be explained away as a mistake, but if there was another one, it would be a dereliction of duty. That would definitely cause a great upheaval in both the military and political worlds of the Federation.
Ling Xiao shook his head and said, "There's no major problem, just some minor flaws." At Ling Xiao's words, the staff member in charge of this mecha instantly broke out in cold sweat, but he did not dare to wipe it off. He quickly ran to stand before General Ling Xiao and lowered his head in apology. "General, I didn't do my job well."
"This has nothing to do with you." Ling Xiao's words sent the staff member's heart from hell to heaven. He raised his head in surprise. Ling Xiao did not pay attention to this. He pointed at some parts of the mecha and began to point out the problems.
The staff member quickly turned on his communicator and began to record it down. Most of what Ling Xiao pointed out was wear and tear, affecting the mecha's performance. Of course, there were a few extremely secretive areas that, if not discovered in time, could cause the mecha to lose control. However, these areas had nothing to do with the inspection this time, and would not threaten the life of the mecha operator in the cockpit.
Hearing that Ling Xiao had been so meticulous as to point out the problem of a small screw, everyone around them stared enviously at the owner of this mecha, Ling Lan, who was currently standing behind Ling Xiao with an indifferent expression. Everyone was wondering why the mecha being inspected was not theirs. Who would have thought that General Ling Xiao would inspect it so thoroughly, not even letting go of such an insignificant problem?
Ling Lan's expression was indifferent, but in reality, when she heard Ling Xiao point out the problems with the mecha bit by bit, her heart began to ripple once more — was this what it meant to have a father's love as heavy as a mountain?
Ling Lan knew very well that Ling Xiao had not just done a superficial inspection. He had used his spiritual power to cover the entire mecha, which was why he had been able to find these problems one by one. This method was very taxing on Ling Xiao's spiritual power — no wonder his face had been so pale when he had come out of the cockpit. At the same time, Ling Lan was also secretly shocked. Her father's control of spiritual power had reached a terrifying level — even she had not noticed it at that time.
This thick sense of fatherly love from Ling Xiao caused the barrier that Ling Lan had erected around herself to collapse. If they were not in public, Ling Lan believed that she would definitely have been able to call him 'dad' right now.
Unfortunately... Ling Lan's eyes flashed, and she finally reined in her rippling emotions, once again returning to that cold and emotionless Ling Lan.
If Ling Xiao knew right now that he had missed out on Ling Lan calling him 'dad' because of the wrong location and timing, he would definitely beat his chest and stomp his feet in frustration. However, it was also fortunate that he did not know, so his mood was not affected. With a serious expression, he directed the staff backstage to solve all the problems one by one.
Ling Xiao's serious attitude made everyone busy anxiously. Problems that would have taken one or two hours to solve were all solved within half an hour. Ling Xiao once again boarded the mecha for inspection, and when he finally came out, he nodded to the staff to show that there were no problems.
Receiving General Ling Xiao's approval, all the staff could not help but clap and celebrate. This also allowed Ling Xiao to recover from his work state, and a trace of a smile appeared at the corners of his lips. A mecha with no hidden problems also allowed Ling Xiao to breathe a sigh of relief.
However, this happy atmosphere was very quickly shattered by a piece of news. The experts who had inspected the Tongli Military Academy had found another problem in one of the mecha. Hearing this, Ling Xiao and the vice president's expressions changed. The two of them exchanged a look and walked over together.
After hearing the expert's report, Ling Xiao once again boarded the mecha for inspection. When he came out again, he nodded to the vice president to show that the expert's inspection results were fine. The vice president's face instantly darkened. He knew that this was probably a major incident of collusion between government officials and businessmen, corruption, bribery, and dereliction of duty.
"General Ling Xiao, can you leave this matter to our government to resolve?" The vice president waited for General Ling Xiao to disembark from his mecha and pleaded in a low voice.
Ling Xiao was no longer as gentle as before. He glanced at the vice president, and his sharp gaze made the vice president's forehead break out in cold sweat. He heard Ling Xiao reply indifferently, "I must report this matter to the First Marshal. Vice President, please forgive me." Thinking about how many of his comrades who had fought desperately on the battlefield might have died because of this, Ling Xiao was furious. He would not tolerate this.
The vice president knew that his request was a little too much, so he could only nod bitterly and say, "Of course, of course. It was my lack of consideration. Please forgive me, General Ling Xiao."
Only then did Ling Xiao's expression soften. He said sincerely, "Vice President, let's just follow the rules. What happens afterwards is not something we can interfere with."
Hearing this, the vice president smiled bitterly. Compared to Ling Xiao, he was even more troubled and worried. If this matter was not handled properly, their current government might very well have to take the blame and resign... hopefully, they would not poke a hole in the sky!
After resolving his worries, Ling Xiao left the backstage with his people. Meanwhile, the vice president returned to his own quarters with a heart full of worry. At this moment, how could he be in the mood to watch the group mecha competition? He needed to inform the president of this news as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, on Ling Xiao's side, he had returned to the front of the rostrum. He nodded gently at the worried Lan Luofeng, and only then did Lan Luofeng let out a sigh of relief. Since Ling Xiao said that there was no problem, then there was definitely no problem. When it came to mecha, Lan Luofeng had unlimited trust in Ling Xiao.
Meanwhile, Ling Xiao's number one staff officer, He Xuyang, was already on his way back. He had asked Ling Xiao to send someone to his quarters to report what had happened here to the First Marshal. As for what happened afterwards, just as Ling Xiao had said, it was not something he could interfere with or control. Of course, if anyone wanted to cheat for personal gain, he, Ling Xiao, would not mind stepping in. The mecha protection system concerned the lives of warriors — he would not allow anyone to pass through easily.
Very soon, the group mecha combat competition resumed. Mu Shaoyu piloted his mecha onto the arena. The difference in strength between the opponents from the Tongli Military Academy was too great — after just a few moves, the opponent was beaten to the point that he could not hold on any longer. After struggling to hold on for more than ten moves, the opponent felt that he could not hold on any longer and immediately took the time to make a gesture of admitting defeat. The referee then waved the red flag to end the match.
Although Tongli had lost this match, their companions backstage did not show any signs of disappointment. Instead, they were even more energized as they prepared for the fourth match. This also confirmed that the opponent had indeed gambled their final victory on the fourth match. This was Ling Lan, who had not participated in the single combat competition but had unexpectedly appeared in the group combat competition.
Zhao Jun was the only one backstage who knew of Ling Lan's true strength. She was a proper ace operator — even if she was operating a special-class mecha, she was still not someone a special-class operator could stand up to.
Ling Lan had already boarded her mecha to do the pre-match monitoring. She found that after Ling Xiao had made some adjustments, the performance of her mecha had improved by more than just a little bit. It could be said that it had doubled, vaguely reaching the limits of special-class mecha, only a hair's breadth away from being an ace mecha. Ling Lan was secretly impressed by this. Her father's control of mecha had already reached the pinnacle of perfection, allowing him to formulate the best modifications for this mecha in an instant.
Yes, modifications. Ling Xiao looked like he was just replacing the worn-out parts of the mecha, not touching the fundamentals of the mecha. However, it was precisely these unremarkable little parts that had caused Ling Lan's mecha to undergo a complete transformation. Calling it modifications was not an exaggeration at all.
Ling Lan's mind moved, and she immediately had Little Four record the scene of Ling Xiao adjusting the mecha and the parts and send it to Chang Xinyuan. She believed that this might become an opportunity for Chang Xinyuan's evolution.
Finally, Ling Lan's match began. Lan Luofeng, who had been waiting all this while, could not help but tug on the corner of Ling Xiao's shirt. She was using so much force that she almost pulled Ling Xiao into her arms.
Ling Xiao held Lan Luofeng's hand that was tugging on his shirt and squeezed it gently. Lan Luofeng raised her head, her eyes full of worry. Her daughter was actually going to operate a mecha and fight against other mecha operators...
Ling Xiao said reassuringly in a low voice, "Luofeng, it'll be fine. Trust her." Under Ling Xiao's reassurance, Lan Luofeng gradually relaxed. She looked towards the arena — one of the mecha operators operating a special-class mecha was her daughter, Ling Lan. She should be the first female mecha operator to participate in a mecha combat tournament. Lan Luofeng's heart was filled with pride and bitterness. If possible, she did not want to see this scene.
The Tongli mecha operator was operating a close-combat mecha, while Ling Lan was operating a balanced mecha. The spectators could not help but speculate — would this be a battle between a long-range mecha and a close-combat mecha? Or perhaps it would be a direct close-combat battle?
Ling Lan actually really wanted to directly engage in close-combat and KO the opponent cleanly. However, she suppressed this thought and decided to try long-range attacks first.
By the time the referee waved the green flag, before the opponent could react, Ling Lan had already operated her mecha to retreat several hundred metres. This extremely fast scene caused everyone to cry out in surprise. They all turned to look at the referee's flag in unison to judge whether Ling Lan's action was a foul or not.
This was because there had been a contestant who had acted before the referee had even waved the green flag and announced the start of the match. In the end, the contestant had been judged to have committed a foul, and a whole half of their points were deducted. Not only that, the match would have to be restarted, and if the contestant committed another foul, the contestant would be immediately disqualified.
The panel of referees monitoring the match very quickly made their judgments, all of them judging that Ling Lan had operated properly and had not committed a foul. Receiving the panel's verdict, the referee immediately waved the green flag left and right, indicating that the match was normal and that Ling Lan's operation had not committed a foul.
This result made the audience applaud enthusiastically. This move of Ling Lan's showed that her control skills were not ordinary. As expected of someone from the First Men's Military Academy — even if she had never participated in a single combat tournament, she was not inferior to the others. Ling Lan's outstanding control skills immediately dispelled the doubts people had about her. She had been able to participate in the team competition because of her own strength and nothing else.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
