Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
Translator: H2dH2mr Editor: H2dH2mr In the sea of stars outside planet Qiming, a large fleet of starships was slowly moving. The starships were mainly made up of transport carriers. Of course, the outermost circle was made up of various warships and destroyers protecting the carrier. The transport carriers weren't carrying any soldiers or military supplies, but rather all the participants participating in the Grand Mecha Tournament's battle royale. Ling Lan and the other members of the First Men's Military Academy were among them.
Of course, a transport carrier didn't just have a single military academy's team. There were at least 20 military academy's teams on board. In the transport hold Ling Lan and the others were in, there were members of four military academies squeezed together.
This also caused the atmosphere in the transport hold to be very tense. The four military academies each took one side, guarding against each other.
All of the members of the First Men's Military Academy were in a pointed formation. The one at the very front was Qiao Ting's 24-man battle team. They were all wearing special-class mecha and were eyeing the other three military academies. This was also the main reason for the tense atmosphere in the transport hold.
Behind Qiao Ting's battle team, there were two flanks protecting them. They were also special-class mecha. The Everlasting battle team led by Han Yu and the Tianji battle team led by Mu Shaoyu each took one side.
In the area protected by these three battle teams, there were 10 transport mecha carrying their various supplies. Because they didn't have any large weapons that could overload them, and because most of the supplies and weapons had already been distributed in front of the transport ship, the remaining supplies could be taken away by these 10 transport mecha.
Moreover, after being modified by Chang Xinyuan and many other genius engineers, the maximum load of the transport mecha was more than double the original. Thus, these 10 transport mecha weren't just transport mecha for logistics. They could also be combat mecha with firepower. This allowed the First Men's Military Academy to not waste a portion of their mecha operators on logistics. They had truly become a full-fledged battle team.
Meanwhile, Ling Lan led the remaining members to bring up the rear. At a glance, other than a few scattered advanced mecha, the rest were all special-class mecha. This strong strength made the remaining three military academies, who mostly had advanced mecha, extremely wary.
And in this tense atmosphere, Ling Lan's team was casually video-chatting.
"Actually, I still don't understand. Isn't it just sending us to the big map? Why use such a huge transport fleet? " As they chatted, Chang Xinyuan asked the question that had been bothering him. It was obvious that transportation on the planet was faster than outer space, and the cost was lower. Why did the organizers choose to give up the easy and make the difficult?
"Who knows? Maybe they just want us to experience what a real transport carrier feels like. "Luo Lang didn't take it to heart at all, guessing nonchalantly.
"It can't be that simple!" Han Jijun did not think so. "From the moment I knew I was going to board the starship, I've been thinking about why the organizers would do this …"
"Then what did you figure out?" Zilong asked curiously. He had always trusted Han Jijun when it came to questions that tested his intelligence.
Han Jijun shook his head regretfully and said, "I don't know … I should say, I can't guess the answer that I think is reliable." Han Jijun felt that there was something going on here, but it was as if there was a veil covering it, preventing him from seeing it clearly. Unwilling to give up, he asked Li Lanfeng, "Senior Feng, what do you think?"
Li Lanfeng frowned. He pondered for a moment before saying, "I've actually been thinking about something."
"What is it?" Han Jijun's eyes lit up. Unlike his usual calmness, he asked anxiously.
Schemers were like this — once they felt that something was not simple but were unable to figure it out, that feeling would be unbearable. They would not be able to eat well or sleep well — they would only stop after they had figured out what was going on. Thus, when Han Jijun heard that Li Lanfeng seemed to have discovered something, he was instantly excited.
Li Lanfeng's gaze turned towards the silent Ling Lan, and he said slowly, "When we were boarding the starship, Boss Lan gave us a last-minute order. You guys shouldn't have forgotten, right?"
Following Li Lanfeng's words, everyone recalled the scene when they had boarded the starship.
In the spaceport, when the people from the First Men's Military Academy had arrived at the entrance of the starship and seen the gigantic transport carrier, everyone could not help but exclaim, "Wow! This is our Federation's large transport carrier! It's really too majestic. How many people can live in it? "
"According to the data, just the logisticians alone reach 10,000 people on the large transport carrier. Including the other combat units, it's impossible to handle it without at least 100,000 people." Someone familiar with the information on the carrier would naturally explain to the others.
Just as everyone was stunned by the size of the carrier, Ling Lan's cold voice rang out in the team commlink, "Order: All battle teams are to immediately go to the logistics department to collect their weapons and supplies. Coordinates: XX.XX. No delays!"
With this order, the members who were still chatting instantly became busy. They all ran to the coordinates that Ling Lan had announced and found the logistics department that Lin Zhong-qing was in charge of to collect their supplies.
They had originally decided that they would only be given out when they arrived at their destination, but they had suddenly been given out early. Although many people did not understand why, they were still very happy to be able to get their supplies (energy storage units, food, weapons, etc.) early.
Of course, the reason why the weapons and supplies had to arrive at their destination was because the 50 million worth of weapons and supplies would only be sent to the entrance of the spaceport when they arrived at the starship and handed over to the various military academies. Thus, it was impossible for them to give out the supplies early.
Because of Ling Lan's sudden order, the members of the First Men's Military Academy were in a state of chaos at the entrance of the starship. This made the other cadets from the other military academies pass by look at them with disdain. They did not think that the students of the First Men's Military Academy would disregard their dignity like this in order to be the first to get their hands on the weapons and supplies, hurriedly distributing them at the entrance of the starship. This performance was really quite unsightly.
Meanwhile, at this time, the commander in chief of the fleet, Qiu Yue, who was in charge of this transport, was leaning against the window and sipping tea as he browsed through everything that was happening at the entrance of the starship. Opposite him, on the commander's seat that originally belonged to him, sat an unbelievably handsome man.
"Eh? Why is the entrance of the starship so chaotic? Could it be that something happened? " As the commander in chief of the transport fleet, if something went wrong during the transport mission, he would have to take full responsibility.
Hearing this, the handsome man opposite him raised an eyebrow and pointed at the starship's A.I. in front of him. The A.I. said, "Commander Qiu Yue, please give your order."
The handsome man smiled and looked at Qiu Yue without saying anything. Qiu Yue walked over and said to the A.I., "Open the image of the entrance of the starship. I want to know what's happening there."
"Yes!" Following the A.I.'s reply, a large virtual screen quickly appeared on the A.I., and the image of the entrance of the starship appeared clearly before the two of them.
Qiu Yue saw that seemingly chaotic but actually orderly mecha clan distributing supplies and weapons. He randomly clicked on a mecha to zoom in and saw the military academy insignia on the mecha's chest. He said in surprise, "It's the First Men's Military Academy?"
He turned his head to look at the handsome man and said with a smile, "Ling Xiao, this is our junior. I didn't expect them to distribute supplies and weapons right from the start. Say, do you think they've noticed something? "
Ling Xiao picked up the teacup beside him and took a sip before saying ambiguously, "Maybe, or maybe there's nothing."
"You say it's luck? Then their luck is pretty good. If they're going to split the spoils when they arrive at their destination, hehe … "Qiu Yue's smile was obviously filled with schadenfreude. He suddenly thought of the reason Ling Xiao had mentioned the tournament and said in hindsight," Isn't your son only 17 years old? How come he's participating in the Mecha Tournament? "Even if it was Ling Xiao, he had only participated in the tournament when he was in his third year.
Ling Xiao's right hand supported his forehead and the smile on his face grew wider. He said bluntly, "Yes, she's in her second year and has already advanced to special-class operator. Not only that, but she's also the commander of this year's battle royale! "Regarding Ling Lan's advancement to ace level, Ling Xiao still didn't want too many people to know about it.
"F * ck, a second-year commander. I remember that the First Men's Military Academy sent an ace operator this year, right? Your son actually suppressed such a strong opponent and obtained the right to command. He's even more impressive than you. Ling Xiao, you have a successor! " Qiu Yue's eyes were filled with envy and jealousy. He then said gloomily, "I didn't think that you would be the first to have a son in our batch. We always thought that you would be the last to get married and have children. At that time, almost all the girls liked you. We all thought that you were picky."
That was the era that belonged to Ling Xiao. In that year's Mecha Tournament, Ling Xiao had led the First Men's Military Academy and was unstoppable. They had taken first place in almost all of the competitions. In the end, the number of points they had obtained was shockingly high, creating an almost unbreakable record.
Unfortunately, that year was actually the last glory of the First Men's Military Academy. After Ling Xiao left the military academy, he was actually suppressed by the Second Men's Military Academy for many years, becoming the eternal number two. This made the people from the First Men's Military Academy yearn for that glorious era of Ling Xiao even more …
"What picky? I'm very clean! "Ling Xiao glanced at his good friend warningly, telling him not to say anything. His wife had come on the ship with him. If she misunderstood, he would be in trouble.
"Okay, okay, okay. I know you're henpecked. I won't say anything!" Qiu Yue could only raise his hands in surrender, indicating that he understood. Look, this was what it meant to be a hero with a short temper and a girl with a long heart. So what if Ling Xiao was in the limelight outside? When he came home, wouldn't he still have to be obedient with his tail between his legs? To be honest, Ling Xiao's tragedy was also the reason why these old friends of his didn't dare to casually get married. They were afraid that they would become the next Ling Xiao.
"This is called fun, you know? You bunch of single dogs won't be able to understand the fun in this, "Ling Xiao said disdainfully. People who walked different paths could not make plans together. How could these playboys who had never experienced true love understand the feelings between him and Lan Luofeng?
"Alright, Little Yueyue, I have to go back and accompany my wife." Ling Xiao stood up, picked up the military cap that had been placed at the side, and put it on.
"Dammit, don't call me Little Yueyue!" Qiu Yue shouted angrily. How many years had it been? Ever since Ling Xiao's' sacrifice ', he hadn't heard this name that he hated. Now that he heard it again, he once again experienced the grief and anger from before. It made him forget the demeanor a commander should have and instantly lost his composure.
In the staff room next door, He Xuyang was drinking tea and chatting with the staff officer of the starship. Suddenly, he raised his head suspiciously and asked, "Hey, did you hear something?"
"… No!" That definitely wasn't their commander's voice! The staff officer denied without hesitation.
"Oh, then I probably heard wrong." He Xuyang laughed. Little Yueyue? Starship Commander Qiu Yue? The smile on his face became even wider. He didn't expect Major General Qiu Yue to have such a nickname. Tsk, tsk, tsk. His general was too evil!
"Haha, you're still the same as before. Every time I call you by this name, your hair will explode." Ling Xiao laughed nostalgically.
"If you keep talking, I'll end our friendship!" Qiu Yue shouted angrily.
"Alright, since you've already said this much, I won't say anymore." Ling Xiao shrugged nonchalantly. He adjusted his military cap and prepared to leave.
"F * * k, leaving so soon? Then why did you call me here? "Qiu Yue's face was full of frustration. After finding him, he actually only said a few words and was preparing to go back to find his wife? This was too much of a lover over a friend.
Ling Xiao's footsteps suddenly stopped. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "I know that you're the one in charge of the transportation, so I came to see you. Also, I wanted to ask you if you want to come to the 23rd Division."
Hearing this, Qiu Yue was so agitated that he almost knocked over the teacup in his hand. He suddenly took a step forward and punched Ling Xiao's shoulder forcefully. With tears in his eyes, he said, "F * * k, ever since you established the 23rd Division, I've been waiting for you to recruit me. After waiting for more than a year, there was still no news. I thought that you had forgotten about us old friends."
"How could that be? It's just that 17 years have passed. Things have remained the same, but people have changed. Many of my friends are now in high positions, so I can't help but be cautious. Are you still willing to start over with me? " Ling Xiao couldn't help but worry. This was also why he had thought about it for a year before deciding to look for these old friends.
Ling Xiao's words made Qiu Yue's smile disappear. At the same time, he also felt that many people had changed between them. He could only sigh. 17 years was enough to change some people and some things. How many people still remembered the vows they made when they were young?
"Don't sigh. I'm already very satisfied that you're willing to come over. Just wait for my transfer order." How could Ling Xiao not see Qiu Yue's disappointment? He smiled and comforted him. Then, he walked out of the command room. Suddenly, he thought of something and turned back to say to Qiu Yue, "Oh right, my son, please take care of him on this journey!"
"Don't worry, don't worry!" Qiu Yue waved his hand at Ling Xiao to tell him not to worry. After Ling Xiao left, he smiled slyly and said, "I will definitely take good care of him. Yes, find the most difficult point and throw them down …"
"Giving out supplies and weapons to the members in advance, I believe Boss Lan must have noticed something," Li Lanfeng said firmly.
Everyone looked towards Ling Lan, waiting for her answer.
Ling Lan didn't answer. Instead, she said to Li Lanfeng, "Then tell me, why did I give out supplies and weapons at the first moment? I think you should already have an answer. "
"I can only think of one possibility. That is, this journey isn't as simple as we thought. It's very likely that there will be a change along the way," Li Lanfeng said what he thought.
"Could it be that the test of the battle royale had already begun from the moment we boarded the ship?" Han Jijun, who had gone through the pre-academy assessment, had a flash of inspiration as he thought of this possibility.
Ling Lan nodded and said, "Jijyun is right. My guess is that the battle royale had already begun from the moment the lots were drawn. I can't think of a reason why the organizers would let us reach the location safely. If the battle royale was purely about protecting and seizing the headquarters, then it wouldn't be worthy of being a super battle that could take up half the points of the entire Mecha Grand Tournament."
Ling Lan's words made Li Lanfeng and Han Jijun's minds light up. They said in unison, "It's military strategy!"
Han Jijun said with an excited expression, "Now, it's a test of the team's military strategy. It's to see if we can see through their arrangements. The 50 million allocation at the beginning was a test of coordination, planning, and logistical strength. Even the mecha engineers were taken into account. As expected of the battle royale — it involved almost every specialization in the military academy. "
"There's also a test of starship navigation. Could this fleet really be flying along planet Qiming? I don't think so. "Ling Lan shared the conclusion she and Little Four had made together. The team members' eyes sparkled when they heard this.
"Jijyun, because your innate talent isn't navigation, when you entered the transport cabin, your vision was blocked, and there was no radar to warn you, so you had no way of knowing which direction the starship was flying in. However, I believe that Luo Chao has definitely discovered this problem. I just hope that she can communicate with Lin Xiao in time so that there won't be any unnecessary losses due to being unprepared. "Since they were collaborators, Ling Lan naturally hoped that the First Co-ed Military Academy was as strong as possible.
While Ling Lan was guessing, on the First Co-ed Military Academy's side, Luo Chao did indeed feel that there was something wrong with the direction the starship was flying in. They seemed to have left planet Qiming and entered an unknown region. This unknown region didn't exist in the textbooks she had studied.
Luo Chao quickly told Lin Xiao about this problem. Lin Xiao trusted Luo Chao a lot. He stood his ground against everyone's objections and started distributing the weapons and supplies in the transport cabin. The other three military academies in the same transport cabin as them were very smart. They followed the First Co-ed Military Academy and started distributing the supplies and weapons. However, they still put some of the special heavy weapons together and didn't distribute them …
Just like that, after flying for more than an hour, without any of the military academy students knowing, the original starship fleet suddenly split up and flew towards various corners of a mysterious planet.
"Beep beep beep!" After about 20 minutes, the alarm in Ling Lan's transport cabin suddenly rang out. She heard the JMC in charge of this transport cabin anxiously shout, "Cabin No. 3, please take note. Cabin No. 3, please take note. Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Please make an emergency ejection landing within 3 minutes. Please make an emergency ejection landing within 3 minutes! "
This announcement made everyone pale with fright. Even Qiao Ting broke out in cold sweat in that instant. Following the JMC's announcement, the originally tightly shut cabin doors suddenly opened. Some of the people who were standing closer to the cabin doors were swept away by the crazy hurricane that rushed in because of the sudden opening of the cabin doors. They quickly fell downwards …
"Little Four, report the situation!" Ling Lan did not panic, directly instructing Little Four.
"We've reached an unknown planet!" Following Little Four's voice, a pitch-black planet appeared in Ling Lan's mindspace. As the image zoomed in and entered the planet's atmosphere, only then did Ling Lan discover that the planet was pitch black. Even with her extraordinary eyesight, she actually could not see anything.
"What's going on?" Ling Lan, who had been calm all this while, could not help but change her expression at this moment.
"The planet below has no light source at all. It should be said that its atmosphere has blocked out all light, causing the entire planet to be pitch black," Little Four added.
"Do we have enough light sources prepared?" Ling Lan asked Lin Zhong-qing, who was beside her, as she looked at the pitch-black planet without any light sources.
"Every mecha operator can be equipped with two light sources. We have 80 left." Lin Zhong-qing was like a human-shaped computer, immediately giving the answer.
"Two light sources is still a bit too little." Ling Lan frowned. She did not expect that the lighting equipment they had prepared for two nights would actually be lacking quite a bit because they had reached a completely black planet.
"Boss, don't worry. This planet has daytime." Little Four saw Ling Lan's worry and spoke up to share her worries. "It's just that the daytime is short while the nighttime is long."
"Give me the exact time," Ling Lan asked bluntly.
"The daytime is only 8 hours long while the nighttime lasts for 16 hours."
"The nighttime is so f * cking long. The lack of light sources is still quite large." Ling Lan rubbed her forehead. She had miscalculated on this point.
At this moment, the starship's JMC began the final three minutes of the countdown. If the countdown reached zero, the transport cabin would close before anyone could leave. Those who did not leave would be disqualified from the competition: 180, 179, 178 …
Facing the pitch-black darkness, the cadets who were unable to see what was happening below began to hesitate. Should they listen to the JMC's orders? Many people even began to clamor that they should unite and not go down blindly. If there was danger below and they could not see it, wouldn't they be dead? These words made many people waver. Just as everyone was unable to make a decision, Ling Lan suddenly opened the team comms channel and gave her second order. "Everyone eject!"
She knew that everyone had fear in their hearts. Thus, she operated her mecha and was the first to walk to the cabin door. Seeing the thick darkness below, it was like a terrifying beast that could swallow everything. Ling Lan encouraged herself and operated her mecha to eject quickly. Her mecha quickly fell towards the planet's surface.
"Little Four, analyze all of the planet's data!" In this kind of unknown situation, Ling Lan decisively chose to let Little Four do the analysis instead of the mecha's A.I. Compared to the latter, she trusted Little Four more.
"Light source: 0. Air composition: carbon dioxide 67%, oxygen 30%, other 3%. Wind: level 7. Terrain's gravity …" A series of data flashed rapidly on the mecha's screen. Ling Lan sent these data directly to every member of the First Men's Military Academy. She hoped that the members who jumped down with her would not have any major regrets because of some mistakes in the data and wrong operations.
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