Chapter 184 - 288 - 293

Chapter 288 - The Assessment Team!

The moment Luo Lang came out, he was whisked away by Wu Jiong to join the reception team. Initially, Luo Lang did not want to participate, but when he found out Boss Ling Lan was also part of the team, all his protestations died on his lips. Think about it. The boss was already doing it — how could the follower hide?

Not only that, Li Yingjie, who had just escaped the abyss of misery with him, was also snatched up by Ling Lan to join. Even though he really wanted to object, when Ling Lan swept a glacial stare upon him, Li Yingjie could only rub his nose and obediently accept his fate. Li Yingjie believed that Boss Ling Lan was still 100 times more brutal than his own second elder cousin brother.

Just like that, after training for approximately three days, it was finally their time to debut. Ling Lan led a bunch of handsome youths with stately physiques to the only main road connecting the military academy to the outside world. There, they arranged themselves into a long line, whereafter they stood tall and unmoving. Dressed in the white and blue ceremonial military uniforms specially designed by the school, these youths appeared extraordinarily heroic with maximum visual impact, a real treat for the eyes of any observers.

The administrators of the school who came to supervise were extremely satisfied by this. Of course, this was just the first step — whether these youths were just pretty on the surface, or were true gems, would still depend on their upcoming performance.

The assessment teams from the various army divisions arrived one after the other to the First Men's Military Academy. When they saw the reception team standing there in welcome, they were all startled. When had the First Men's Military Academy begun doing such a thing as well?

"Salute!" Ling Lan cried out, and all the members of the reception team lifted their heads and executed a cadet's salute almost simultaneously. The coordinated dance of their white gloves, along with their stern and serious faces, caused the initially indifferent attitudes of those from the assessment team to shift, becoming serious and proper in turn. They reflexively lifted their hands to return a salute, before solemnly walking past the reception team towards the inner grounds of the school.

As every assessment team walked by the reception team, though their attitudes were extremely solemn, it could not be denied that there was a trace of approval in their eyes. It looked like the performance of the reception team had indeed pleased them.

Seeing this, the administrators of the school could not help but be secretly gleeful, certain that their decision back then was not wrong. These new cadets were surprisingly capable — doing things this way fully displayed the masculine force and daring of the First Men's Military Academy. Taking the members' handsome appearances and their youthful manners into consideration as well, even the most stubborn and bitter soldier could not help but find their mood lifted by such a sight.

All the assessment teams were to arrive over the course of three days. The teams included the 23 permanent army divisions and 10 or so other independent armies. It could not be considered a lot, but it was not very little either — every single assessment team that passed by was greeted by the reception team as if they were facing a great enemy, with all of their strength.

Perhaps the military academy's pretty boy strategy had succeeded, for after the assessment teams arrived at the school, their attitudes did indeed seem much better than before during the previous years. This made the administrators of the school let out a great sigh of relief — it looked like they had done the right thing.

Ling Lan snorted derisively at how the military academy relaxed just like that. She did not believe that the assessment teams would show any mercy just because they now had a good impression of the school. When it was necessary to be ruthless, they definitely would not falter and show mercy. This was the base nature of a competent soldier. It could only be said that the school administrators had been away from the army for too long — they had already forgotten some things.

However, Ling Lan would not go remind these administrators — after all, the cadets just needed to complete the task set by the military academy and that would be enough. As for the final outcome, that had nothing to do with the new cadets at all; Ling Lan was perfectly happy to be a carefree bystander.

However, Ling Lan's composure only lasted for the first two days. On the third day, when the representatives of the 23rd Division appeared, Ling Lan's composed face finally faltered.

The 23rd Division was one of the new permanent army divisions of the Federation. When it had appeared on the name list of assessment teams, it had drawn the collective attention of all the instructors at the academy. Of course, it being the division of her own dad, no matter how cool Ling Lan acted, she could not help but speculate who her dad had sent to take charge of the assessment this time. She naturally wished that a fair and unbiased team leader would be sent so that the 23rd Division could leave an excellent impression with the First Men's Military Academy.

However, when she saw one man stepping down from the special train from the spaceport, her initially unmoved ice-block face finally cracked, giving a violent twitch.

That man who was intentionally pulling his army cap down with a large face-mask covering half his face ... even though he was dressed in a major general uniform, pretending to be aloof, how could this familiar presence fool her eyes?

Ling Lan clenched her teeth internally. 'Bloody hell, why is my idiot dad here?! What in the world is he planning?'

"Ah, it's daddy ... !!" In the mindspace, Little Four's eyes were spilling over with red hearts, squealing joyfully as he stared at Ling Xiao fanatically. He was instantly sent flying with a kick from Ling Lan. "You bloody keep quiet!"

"Boo hoo hoo, Boss, I haven't seen daddy in so long. Why aren't we saying hi to daddy?" Little Four quickly scrambled back, crying as he hugged Ling Lan's leg, strongly requesting to go reunite with their daddy.

"It's obvious from a glance that this idiot dad is here undercover. How can I go greet him?" Ling Lan stared speechlessly at that man who thought he was disguised so well, really unsure what she could say anymore.

Luckily, the people by his side were intentionally blocking off the others' line of sight, and Ling Xiao himself was keeping a low profile, so his identity was not exposed.

When the 23rd Division assessment team passed before Ling Lan, Ling Xiao abruptly stopped. His eyes, the only part of him exposed, were clearly smiling as he asked, "Both stance and ceremony are pretty good. Are you all freshmen?"

Was he intentionally making conversation? Ling Lan mentally rolled her eyes dramatically at her dad, but as composed as usual on the surface, she saluted and replied, "Yes, Sir."

Ling Xiao turned to look at the accompanying administrators beside Ling Lan and said with a laugh, "Not bad! Having such flair even as freshmen. It looks like the First Men's Military Academy lives up to its name!" Ling Xiao's intention was absolutely to praise his own daughter, nothing at all to do with the First Men's Military Academy.

However, the administrators registered his words differently. Almost everyone felt that this was the representative of the 23rd Division expressing appreciation for the military academy, and this instantly injected joy onto their faces. It was wonderful! But of course they still acted humble on the surface, repeatedly saying 'not at all, not at all'.

Mind you, even though the previous other divisions had reacted favourably towards the welcoming team, they had not said anything outright, maintaining the unassailable dignity of an army division all the way. It was unexpected that the leader of the 23rd Division's team was so friendly — this made the 23rd Division's impression rise by several notches more in the administrators' eyes.

At the same time, they were awed at how General Ling Xiao was truly General Ling Xiao — even a subordinate of his was so nice, causing others to feel as if visited by a balmy spring breeze. They began to plan — since the 23rd Division thought so well of the First Men's Military Academy, could it be that they would take in more cadets from the school this time? At that thought, the administrators' hearts heated up with excitement. They all prepared to return and pass on the word to all the instructors, telling them to encourage the students to apply for enlistment to the 23rd Division as much as possible ...

This fondness the administrators had for the 23rd Division would continue on indefinitely after this. In future, every year, they would not forget to remind the instructors to encourage their students to choose enlistment with the 23rd Division as much as they could ...

This was Ling Xiao's personal charisma — he would always breed a favourable impression in others' hearts, and they would then choose to follow him without even knowing it!

"Wowowowow, Daddy's awesome!" Witnessing this scene, Little Four once again turned into a crazed fan, staring adoringly at Ling Xiao with his face cupped in his hands. At this moment, Little Four looked nothing like an intelligence entity 1 .

Ling Lan stared up at the sky, speechless. She just knew that whenever Little Four met Ling Xiao, his systems would shut down and his higher functions would stop working. It looked like if she wanted to preserve Little Four's reliability, she would need to keep him away from Ling Xiao.

"This youth is pretty good. While we're here at the military academy, is it possible to ask this student to accompany us and take us around the school, so that we can better understand things?" Ling Xiao requested from the administrators smilingly as he pointed at Ling Lan. The administrators naturally clamoured to agree — didn't this mean that the 23rd Division's interest in the school was that much greater? This was a good thing! They must support this!

This move of Ling Xiao's instantly threw Ling Lan's plans out the window 1 , causing Ling Lan to silently gnash her teeth. It looked like Little Four would be unable to help her for a long time after this.

Just like that, within the First Men's Military Academy, the first meeting between the Ling Xiao and Ling Lan father-daughter pair went by so unremarkably without drawing anyone's attention ...

Oh, no, well that was not quite true. After the representative of the 23rd Division assessment team had walked a distance away, Luo Lang, who had been standing right beside Ling Lan, asked her softly with a face filled with confusion, "Boss Lan, you know that person?"

Ling Lan quirked a brow, answering with just a look, as if asking why Luo Lang was asking this question.

"I felt your aura become a little unsteady earlier ..." said Luo Lang uncertainly. Ever since subduing all his secondary personalities, Luo Lang's sixth sense had become extremely sensitive. He was now able to pick up the emotions of those he cared about, like how Ling Lan had obviously felt a little troubled earlier.

"Tell you when we get back," Ling Lan replied lowly. Since her dad was here, she believed that her old man absolutely would not leave quietly without a trace — he would definitely cause some trouble. Moreover, she too wanted to let her dad meet these companions by her side. She wanted to tell her father that these companions were her most treasured brothers and that she hoped Ling Xiao would value them highly as well.

At this time, Ling Lan still had not realised that her current actions were just like that of a child on the cusp of growing up seeking a parent's approval.

Luo Lang nodded his head at her reply and said nothing more. This was because the welcoming ceremony had not ended yet — there were still a few more assessment teams from both the divisions and the independent armies about to arrive.

Three days were enough to make even these youths with excellent physical constitutions feel thoroughly wrung out. When the administrators finally declared the end of their task, the youths all cheered wildly, extremely grateful that they had finally left this abyss of misery behind.

Truth be told, even though the whole thing seemed to only be a few simple movements — standing at attention, lining up, and saluting — the mental pressure the youths were under belied their casual demeanours. These soldiers who were here for the assessment were all battle-hardened soldier kings from various battlefields — an oppressive cloud of killing intent hung around them, constantly challenging the psychological resilience of these youths at every turn.

Facing these strong and formidable examiner-soldiers, the youths had been able to perform their duties so perfectly, composed and assured, unusually calm and undisturbed, all because of Ling Lan's daily bombardment with her own aura. This allowed the youths to become used to this type of killing intent within the shortest period of time possible.

In the end, they had persevered and completed their mission flawlessly. At the same time, they had also left an extremely favourable impression with those assessment team representatives. This established solid foundations for their future development — no matter which army division they went to, as long as they mentioned being part of this year's reception team, those officers would view them with different eyes. It went without question that their future development would definitely not be too bad.

1. i.e. where was the intelligence?!

2. T/C: Ling Xiao seems to do this a lot.

Chapter 289 - Missing His Son?

It was worth mentioning that those excellent youths had still been frightened badly by that major general of the 23rd Division. The moment the other had appeared, they had sensed the horrifying force of presence emanating from that major general's body. It was almost enough to crumble their composure instantly. If the other had not stopped to speak with Ling Lan, thus dissipating this pressure, they might not have been able to hold up for long.

This also made them secretly admire the 23rd Division even more ... as expected of General Ling Xiao's man — compared to the other divisions, the 23rd Division's representative was clearly much more impressive. This caused these youths to revere the 23rd Division greatly — 4 years later 1 , quite a number of students would choose the 23rd Division as their enlistment goal.

This was certainly a beautiful misunderstanding. Just think — if the full force of Ling Lan's presence at optimal peak of Qi-Jin was unleashed, it would naturally exceed the pressure exerted by a regular officer. Besides that, the visiting officers were afraid to put too much pressure on the students, so they had all tamped down on their force of presence. Thus, these students had the false impression that the 23rd Division was much stronger compared to the other teams.

Furthermore, Ling Xiao was a god-class operator. Even if he was fully suppressing his presence, when the gap between the realms of two parties was too wide, mere proximity would be enough for the weaker party to feel a tremendous pressure. This was also why those students had felt the pressure so keenly. However, when Ling Xiao had spoken with his daughter, his mood had become joyful, which had subconsciously relaxed his defensive aura, thus reducing that pressure by a significant amount. In fact, it was precisely this kind of moment that would be a prime opportunity to assassinate Ling Xiao. It had to be said that Ling Xiao's only two weaknesses were Lan Luofeng and Ling Lan.

Thus, it wasn't that those other representatives were not strong — the father-daughter duo of Ling Xiao and Ling Lan were just too strong, which was why such a wondrous misunderstanding was created.

After bidding farewell to the other team members, Ling Lan led Luo Lang back to their villa. Before Ling Lan could tell Luo Lang the truth, however, Ling Lan received a notification from the school administrators. The message said that there were representatives from the 23rd Division on their way to her villa for a tour.

At the end of the message, the administrators did not forget to remind Ling Lan to try and find chances to extol the virtues of the school. If the academy did well, then everyone would be even better off.

Ling Lan hung up the call with a frigid expression on her face, while the news made Han Jijyun and the others exchange looks. The assessment teams had nothing to do with them freshmen ... so why did this person from the 23rd Division want to come find them? Right then, they were a little blind, having forgotten for the moment that the commander of the 23rd Division was Ling Lan's dad, Ling Xiao.

Alright, since Ling Lan had never spoken much about Ling Xiao in front of them, as time went by, they had almost completely neglected the fact that Ling Xiao was Ling Lan's father. This was a classic example of missing something in plain sight. It could only be said that, in their minds, Ling Lan was formidable enough in her own right to make them forget about Ling Xiao's existence.

"Hells, what other tricks is that idiot father planning?" A grumpy Ling Lan could only wait in the living room for her dad to arrive, her expression frosty.

Seeing Boss Lan shrouded in cold air, everyone knew that Ling Lan was in a bad mood. By now, Luo Lang could already confirm that his boss most definitely knew that major general back there.

Among those coming to the villa, other than the representative from the school administration, there were only 3 people from the 23rd Division. The leader was Ling Xiao, while the other two trailed behind him silently. When Ling Xiao stepped into the hall of the villa, the other two men automatically chose two strategic positions and planted themselves there.

Seeing this, Ling Lan knew that these two must be her dad's personal bodyguards because of the positions they had chosen. One was at the window — the range of sight at the window was vast, allowing him to have a firm grasp of the situation outside. Meanwhile, the other was standing at a position that would be almost overlooked by all the people in the hall, but where all the people would be clearly captured by his gaze. In other words, any strange movements by the people within the hall would be seen by him. One obvious, one unassuming; one outward-facing, one internal — their cooperation was impeccable.

Ling Xiao nodded at Ling Lan's group of six with a smile. Under the administrator's arrangement, he sat on a sofa in the hall and began chatting amicably with Ling Lan's group, getting a rough idea of their situation. Then, he conversed for a bit with the administrator, and finally, by his request, the representative from the administration had no choice but to leave reluctantly. Of course, when he left, the administrator did not forget to throw a pointed glance in Ling Lan's direction.

Once the administrator was gone, there was only Ling Lan's team left in the villa and Ling Xiao's group of three. Only then did Ling Xiao drop his scholarly gentleman demeanour, shaking out his arms as he leaned back into the sofa and grumbled, "Speaking with them, is really so tiring!"

The way he was behaving, loose and relaxed like he was in his own home, made the corners of the eyes of his two bodyguards twitch subtly. In their minds, they were probably howling: Sir, please maintain some bit of the decorum and dignity a general should have!

Of course, this behaviour also made Qi Long and the others stare at one another, uncertain what they should do. If this were a proper conversation, they might still know what they could say, but this type of situation was beyond their expectations, so they really had no clue how to react anymore.

Unanimously, they all turned to look at their boss Ling Lan. Ling Lan had his arms folded across his chest as he stared coldly at the other ... alright, Boss was definitely in a bad mood. They had better keep their distance.

Surreptitiously, Han Jijyun, Xie Yi, and Lin Zhong-qing retreated several steps back in unison. Han Jijyun was a staunch brother, not forgetting to tug on Qi Long's arm to alert this rather insensitive fellow.

Qi Long stared in confusion as the three put some distance between themselves and Boss Lan, but then he checked his boss's aura ... fine, he may be a bit insensitive, but his animal instinct let him understand that Han Jijyun and the others were acting appropriately. And so, he followed suit instantly to retreat, and holding true to the ideology of helping a comrade who had suffered with him before, he did not forget to alert Luo Lang while he was at it.

Just like this, Luo Lang also realised the danger and retreated silently. These actions only took several seconds to complete — if one was not paying attention, the five of them would seem to have dashed back at about the same time.

Perhaps the cold air around Ling Lan was rather aggressive — it took a while, but Ling Xiao finally discovered that his daughter did not seem to welcome his arrival. He quickly stood up and said with an awkward smile, "Cadet, has our visit troubled you?"

"What do you think? Sir Major General?" responded Ling Lan coolly. She could already predict that her initially peaceful and tranquil cadet life, would definitely be destroyed by her old man ... (Truth be told, Ling Lan's cadet life had never been tranquil from the start ... could this be considered Ling Lan wilfully trumping up a charge to condemn Ling Xiao?) 1

Ling Lan's retort caused Lin Zhong-qing and Xie Yi to suck in a cold breath. Was it really okay to use this kind of hostile attitude when interacting with a major general from the 23rd Division?

Only Han Jijyun seemed to have an inkling spark through his mind, but it went by so quickly that he could not grab hold of it. This made him crinkle his brow and descend into thought.

Those two bodyguards of Ling Xiao also frowned at the same time — Ling Lan's manner made them extremely angry. As Ling Xiao's personal bodyguards, they would not permit anyone to show any disrespect to their senior officer, especially since this senior officer was also the one they revered the most.

The only one who was still as cheerful as ever was Ling Xiao; he did not mind Ling Lan's attitude in the least. In short, no matter what expression or motions his daughter did, in this father's eyes, they were all perfect and wonderful ... See, this is my daughter! Her proud bones would absolutely never break just from a show of greater power! As expected of a progeny of mine, Ling Xiao's! In the eyes of this twenty-four filial exemplars dad, his own child was absolutely faultless. If by any chance there was any fault, then it still must be the fault of other people.

Thus, an internally gleeful Ling Xiao walked towards Ling Lan, all smiles as he opened his arms wide and said, "In short, for this duration of time at the academy, I'll be troubling you." Ling Xiao moved forwards, planning to use a passionate hug to convey how proud he was right now, as well as give an outlet for his full berth of fatherly love.

This passionate action of Ling Xiao's made the complexions of Ling Lan's team of five pale. Having already retreated a distance away previously, they once again took several steps back right now in unison, putting even more distance between them and Ling Lan.

They knew very well that their boss really hated any physical contact with strangers. Even with them, unless absolutely necessary, he would not come close and touch them, much less this type of passionate embrace.

Han Jijyun could not help but peek at Boss Lan who was emitting a steady flow of cold air, standing stiffly right ahead of them. He hoped his boss would be able to just tolerate this hug this time — after all, the other was a major general of the 23rd Division. If they offended the other ...

Wait, something was not right. Wasn't the 23rd Division Ling Lan's father's division? Han Jijyun's brain finally seemed to figure something out. He turned his head to stare gobsmacked at that obviously affectionate major general, and a notion sparked through his mind ...

Reality proved that Ling Lan would not resign herself to things she disliked. She abruptly raised a fist and ploughed it straight into the offending person's abdomen.

A 'bam' and Ling Lan sent her dad reeling back into the sofa with one punch. This extremely blatant attack made the two men by Ling Xiao's side blanch dramatically — they had planned to intercept the attack, but they had been frozen in place by a tremendous force of presence at that instant.

Bewildered, they stared at their senior officer, not even daring to struggle. This was because they were well aware who was the source of this force of presence — it was precisely their leader General Ling Xiao.

Looking at Ling Xiao playing up how pitiful he was by laying on the sofa cradling his stomach with a pained expression, Ling Lan blew on her own fists lightly and then asked coldly, "What are you doing here?"

"I missed you," said Ling Xiao, his gaze sad and pleading. Despite appearances, he was actually extremely glad in his heart, because this behaviour of Ling Lan's proved that his daughter had already recognised him even with his disguise. As expected of his daughter — what keen and discerning eyes 1 , able to see the truth with just one glance.

"You actually abandoned the 23rd Division so irresponsibly to come here? Is that how a commander should act?" Ling Lan's ice-block face finally cracked as she bellowed in a deep voice.

Why had she thought that Ling Xiao was a responsible and good man worthy of trust? Sure enough, the idealised image in her heart was having a serious mismatch with reality. Ling Lan felt that she had been duped.

This bellow stupefied Qi Long and the others. They stared in shock at that major general sitting on the sofa cradling his stomach, his eyes the only thing exposed on his face. So he was the gentle-mannered and refreshing-like-a-spring-breeze national idol, General Ling Xiao?

Only Han Jijyun let out a soft sigh, thinking, 'So it is him!'

"I missed my son, so what's wrong with coming to visit him?" Since his charade had been exposed by his daughter, Ling Xiao no longer tried to pretend. He sat up properly on the sofa and tugged down that rather stifling mask, declaring why he had come with bold righteousness.

1. i.e. when these 1st years become 5th years.

2. Author thoughts alert!

3. 火眼金睛: The literal version goes 'fiery gold eyes', perhaps along the lines of eyes as pure as gold with flames capable of burning away deceit. The meaning is as translated. The source of this idiom is from the Chinese classic 'Journey to the West'. The character Sun Wukong (monkey king) is said to have these eyes, which allowed him to see through the pretences of demons and discern their true nature.

Chapter 290 - Ling Xiao's Wish!

Beneath the mask was, as expected, that handsome face which the entire Federation was crazy about. On it, was Ling Xiao's trademark smile, still as likeable and respectable as ever.

Ling Xiao's words made his two bodyguards stare in shock at Ling Lan. Although they had always known General Ling Xiao had a child, they had not known the particulars, much less that he was studying at the First Men's Military Academy. No wonder the general had randomly decided to come here this time — he was probably here to see his child.

Realisation flashed through the two bodyguards' eyes, and they turned unanimously to stare somewhere else, showing that they were unconcerned with their senior officer's private matters. But clearly, their ears were perked up high — deep inside, they were still very curious about how General Ling Xiao interacted with his son ...

These straightforward words of Ling Xiao, filled with fatherly love, left Ling Lan somewhat uncertain on how to react. Mind you, when they had first met, Ling Xiao's demeanour had been extremely reserved. It should be said that, having been absent for the 16 years of Ling Lan's life when she had been growing up, Ling Xiao was completely clueless about how he should express his fatherly love ... Equally flustered, both Ling Lan and Ling Xiao had been trying to adapt to their new roles, trying to accept each other's existence.

Unexpectedly, after this time apart, seeing Ling Xiao again, her father had actually changed his original warm but reserved manner completely, becoming extremely aggressive in his approach, all 'I am your father so you must accept me' ... but this type of Ling Xiao was something Ling Lan was not ready for, so she actually did not know what to do anymore.

She couldn't very well say coyly back that she did not need her dad to miss her ... right, this type of flirtatious conversation was really inappropriate between them. Therefore, Ling Lan could only react with silence!

"You've been gone for so long, we all miss you a lot. Also, your mum has been worried these days whether you're adapting well to life in the military academy, so when she found out about this opportunity, she asked me to come and see." Ling Xiao saw Ling Lan staying silent and felt that something was up, so after once more expressing how much he had missed his daughter, he decisively pushed the blame 1 onto his wife. Before outsiders, ahem ahem, he still had to maintain his dignity as a general somehow.

Ling Lan peered coldly at him, then replied evenly, "Tell mum that I'm fine on all fronts here. And also, if you are missing your son, I recommend, father, that you go back and discuss things over with mum. Based on the current situation, the both of you could just birth another one. At that time, you won't have the free time for your mind to stray anymore."

"Er ... that's a matter for later." Ling Xiao could only chuckle awkwardly at this reply of Ling Lan's which gave him no face, but he did not dare to say anything in return. Who asked him to owe his own daughter so much as a dad?

The fact remained that it was all his fault — putting aside his disappearance for 16 years, why did he have to make such a huge blunder right after he returned? Actually sending his own daughter right into the great wolves' den of the First Men's Military Academy ... every time he thought of this, Ling Xiao could not help but stamp his feet and pound his chest, unbelievably frustrated and annoyed.

Although Ling Xiao had received a blow from Ling Lan, his extraordinarily strong heart was completely fine. He continued to carry out his plan with determination. Yes, before he had to leave the military academy, he intended to capture the heart of his daughter and let her call him 'daddy' with full sincerity, not this cold and emotionless address she was using now. Just imagining his daughter coyly and adorably calling him 'daddy', he felt ardour and zeal coursing through his blood.

Right then, Ling Xiao had conveniently ignored reality — would Ling Lan, with her typically cold-domineering-unruly swag, really morph into a delicate and cute persona and address someone coyly? Clearly, Ling Xiao's imaginings would absolutely never become reality ...

Before Ling Lan, even Ling Xiao had to back off sometimes — his initially warm smile filled with boundless sunshine even seemed a little awkward now — but it was precisely this conciliatory and compromising display of fatherly love which caused a multitude of feelings to well up in the hearts of Qi Long and the others. Some of them were even looking at their boss with admiration and reverence — as expected of their Boss Lan, even in the face of General Ling Xiao, he could be so collected and domineering ...

Relating the relationship between Ling Xiao and Ling Lan to their relationships with their own fathers, all of them felt like crying. Why was Boss Lan's father, General Ling Xiao, so good-tempered, so warm and nice, and so tolerant? When they thought about their own dads back home with angry slanted brows and full of criticism, they began to wonder whether they had been wild children randomly picked up from somewhere ... 1

It had to be said that Ling Xiao's method of expressing his fatherly love had hurt the souls of these children.

As a result, after reflecting on this pain, Ling Lan's band of little companions all decided that when they returned home, they would raise their flags and fight for independence, beginning their prolonged revolutionary life. This would also cause their fathers to stab knives at Ling Xiao's image in the dark depths of the night when no one else was around ...

Against this move of Ling Xiao's, even the composed Ling Lan was helpless and relented. How could Ling Lan have known that this national idol, this supreme elite of the Federation, would actually be this thick-skinned? Ling Lan, who had always not been good at expressing herself, could only rub her nose at this time, keeping her silence once again. She couldn't very well heartlessly chase away her dad who had travelled all this way to visit her!

At the heart of it, this behaviour of Ling Xiao's had still moved Ling Lan considerably — right then, she truly felt like she was a wild and unruly daughter being spoilt and pampered by her father.

Who was Ling Xiao? He immediately sensed the softening of his daughter's heart and was instantly overjoyed, convinced that he had done the right thing.

Honestly, regarding how Ling Lan had always been unwilling to accept him as her daddy, Ling Xiao had been very anxious despite feeling resigned to it. After saying goodbye to Ling Lan previously, he had constantly been thinking how he could resolve this distance between Ling Lan and him.

Ling Xiao had never been a father before — so suddenly having a daughter emerge out of nowhere made him exceedingly flustered, unsure how to communicate with her. Although Ling Xiao did not know what to do, he was someone who was willing to learn. Thus, even while he was working on establishing the 23rd Division, he had not forgotten to purchase lots of reading materials about parent and child relationships from the virtual network. Outside work, whenever he had the free time, he would hide away in his study and pore over these books diligently, trying hard to seek a solution to his problem ...

After reading through countless books, he finally felt it was time to progress to the next stage. Thus, he had decisively grabbed the chance to come down here to the military academy and rushed over excitedly, prepared to sweep away this issue that had been plaguing him for so long in one concerted attempt. In short, he would definitely become the most perfect daddy in his daughter's eyes.

Therefore, the moment they met, he had followed the instructions of the books: Fatherly love should not be hidden. It must be explicitly expressed, otherwise your child will not feel it and think you do not love him ... Only by letting your child feel your love will he accept you, and only then can you establish a close relationship with your child ...

Of course, when Ling Xiao read those books, he was absolutely ignoring that line of extremely small print at the bottom of the covers: This book is only suitable for use on babies aged 0-3.

Ling Xiao felt as if he had gained something, which made him even more convinced of the efficacy of the books' guidance. All smiles, he looked towards the few youths standing behind Ling Lan and said kindly, "You all must be Ling Lan's good friends. It's a pleasure meeting you all for the first time. And also, thank you all for taking care of Ling Lan all this while."

Ling Xiao's friendly manner flustered Qi Long and the others. Overwhelmed by this unexpected show of favour, they quickly replied, "Not at all, G-general Ling ..." Fine, having gotten used to the stern authoritative image of their own fathers, Ling Xiao's attitude of treating them like equals was undoubtedly a shock to them.

Of course, at the same time, their expressions were dreamy. Even though they had long known that Ling Xiao was Ling Lan's father, they had never met him before. In their minds, Ling Xiao was still that national idol far away out of reach, their lifelong goal in their studies. And now, they had finally encountered their idol in the flesh in such close quarters.

"You all are my son Ling Lan's good friends. Just call me Uncle Ling," said Ling Xiao with a wide smile. When Ling Lan heard this, the frost on her face thawed a little.

Ling Xiao yelled a great big YES in his heart — sure enough, to be a qualified dad, one must treat the little companions who played with one's child with a good attitude. This would make the child feel that they were respected, and they would just love you more and become even closer with you.

"Yes, Un-uncle Ling!" They looked at that face of Ling Xiao's which was so youthful it could almost pass off as their own elder brother's, and once more compared it to the grizzled faces of their dads adorned with white sideburns, and were instantly tearing up inside. This cry of 'uncle' was truly quite difficult for them. But they were well aware that these words of Ling Xiao meant that he had acknowledged them, accepting them as Ling Lan's confidants.

Watching Ling Xiao conversing with Qi Long and the others with full sincerity, his attitude warm and an easy smile on his face, Ling Lan stared up into the sky, utterly speechless.

Ling Lan knew her dad's charisma was boundless, but this was truly too much. With just a simple exchange of words, he had completely taken Qi Long and the other four in under his spell. Seeing their faces filled with idolisation and adoration, Qi Long and the others might have already forgotten that they still had their boss by their side. This made Ling Lan feel a little wistful — as expected, she was still no match for her dad ...

Even more frightening was the fact that, in the mindspace, Little Four had been screaming his adoration non-stop ever since Ling Xiao had arrived. He was making so much noise that her head hurt. Not only that, he was even complaining that Ling Lan was not giving him a chance to talk with Ling Xiao. His various antics expressing his gloom and sadness almost made Ling Lan resort to domestic violence once more. Luckily for Little Four, after being tempered by Instructor Number Five's countless perverse training torments, Ling Lan still managed to restrain herself before she went berserk.

Still, right after, Little Four was heartlessly thrown by Ling Lan into a small dark room, and the world was instantly peaceful and quiet again. Ling Lan felt refreshed and at ease down to her very soul.

However, Ling Lan's good mood soon turned sour again. This was because she could hear Qi Long and the others telling Ling Xiao everything that had happened ever since they had entered the military academy without any reservations. They told him how they had been pressed by the seniors since joining the school, forced to accept a wagered fight with Leiting, and how three members of the New Cadet Regiment had been injured heavily in the subsequent arena, requiring Boss Lan to use his mighty fist to settle the issue, etcetera etcetera ...

Fine, telling him all this, so be it. But unexpectedly, that brat Luo Lang actually told Ling Xiao all about the incident with Tianji with a grieved expression on his face. When Ling Xiao heard that there were actually evil and manipulative students within the school that liked the same gender 1 , his initially warm and genial smile finally cracked ...

With a 'boom', the livid Ling Xiao slapped a powerful palm down onto the only tea table 1 in the living room of Ling Lan's villa, pulverizing it into dust.

"Bastard, how dare he!" Ling Xiao roared. His force of presence whipped free for an instant, and all the lights in the hall shattered with consecutive pops, plunging the entire villa into darkness.

Apparently, his daughter, who was as lovely as flowers and jade, was still in so much danger even though she was disguised as a boy ...

1. The literal Chinese phrase here is 'threw the black wok'.

2. i.e. not their fathers' biological son, but adopted from the streets.

3. Focus on the 'evil and manipulative' part please, since Ling Xiao hasn't really shown any sign of being homophobic thus far. He's probably just concerned over how this would make things even more dangerous for his 'son' Ling Lan.

4. Like a coffee table, but tea. I approve. Tea ~ <3

Chapter 291 - Not Wronged!

Staring out into the pitch blackness before her, Ling Lan could no longer keep calm. Through gritted teeth, she said, "Dear father, are you planning to demolish our living quarters? And then let us sleep on the streets?"

Ling Xiao's anger which had been about to explode deflated rapidly under this question of Ling Lan's, scattering to the winds. The entire hall was eerily silent for a few seconds, and then Ling Xiao could be heard to say carefully, "This ... I really could not control it. I'm sorry, son, I'll take care next time."

Next time? There would still be a next time? Ling Lan felt her head start to ache. She had known that her dad coming here would definitely not be calm and peaceful, but it still should not be to the extent of breaking her house down, right?

In a very bad mood, Ling Lan's entire body was giving out endless cold air, dropping the temperature of the room instantly by several degrees, making the others in the room shiver involuntarily in the dark.

Ling Xiao naturally knew that this was a sign that his daughter was truly enraged now, and so he could only ask hesitantly, "Then, this ... what should we do?"

"What to do? Of course we'll need to fix it? And also, father, do you expect me to fix it personally?" Ling Lan stretched out a porcelain hand with a cold expression, waving it in front of her dad's face.

Ling Xiao naturally could not bear for his beloved daughter to do this kind of rough work, and so he said quickly, "I'll fix it, I'll fix it ..." Taking care of one's daughter was the solemn duty of a dad, not to mention that this accident was his fault anyway — he could not shirk the responsibility.

"Sir, let us handle it," His bodyguards quickly stepped up to volunteer. If they let General Ling Xiao do such menial things himself, they could forget going back and just kill themselves here and now for the crime of doing so.

"Uh ... then I'll leave this to you both. Thank you for the trouble." Ling Xiao knew that if he insisted on doing it himself, these two bodyguards would definitely disembowel themselves and use their deaths to pay for the 'crime'. In order to save two lives, he could only let them help him.

"We'll help too." Although the two men who had volunteered were bodyguards, the insignia on their shoulders clearly marked them as majors. How could Qi Long and the others just sit around and watch the two majors repair their things? They quickly leapt up to lend a hand.

In the face of the students' eagerness, the two bodyguards naturally would not refuse. Just like that, the few of them begun to clean up the mess Ling Xiao had made. In fact, the villa had its own self-automated sweeper and cleaning device, but unfortunately, Ling Xiao's burst of power had also destroyed those things as well. Thus, the group could only do things manually unless they sought out someone from the administration to come solve this, but that would be even more troublesome.

Once everyone had begun busying themselves with their respective tasks, all of them leaving the hall, Ling Xiao turned to look at Ling Lan and said, "Do you want me to do anything? Son?" Even though Ling Xiao really wanted to call his child 'darling daughter', as level-headed and rational as he was, he would never commit such a base mistake and bring possible trouble to his daughter.

"What can you do?" asked Ling Lan with a quirked brow.

"They'll probably apply for enlistment, right? Even if I cannot influence the other divisions, for the 23rd Division at least, I have the ability to refuse them," said Ling Xiao with a smile on the corners of his lips, still appearing as kindly and gentlemanly as ever. It was as if what he was saying had not one whit of personal motive leading to his abuse of power.

Ling Lan decisively shook her head and said, "No need!"

"Why?" Ling Xiao was shocked by her response. He was sure his daughter must be angry at those who bullied her, and he truly wanted to help his daughter vent some of her anger.

"This is between us students. There is no need to escalate things!" said Ling Lan evenly, "Besides, even if they managed to qualify for the 23rd Division and become my rivals in the future, I'm not afraid of them now, and I won't be afraid of them in future either." Ling Lan stated all this with conviction, the confidence on her brow moving Ling Xiao greatly. Boo hoo hoo, my daughter is just too amazing, she is just too aspirational ...

Inside Ling Xiao's mental landscape, his Twenty-four Filial Exemplars dad mode was officially activated. He was all kinds of emotional inside, weeping freely and copiously. However, on the surface, he was as composed as usual. After a brief silence, he nodded and said, "That's how my son should be like. If they really apply for enlistment to the 23rd Division and pass, I'll take them all in, and as for the grudge between you and them ..." Ling Xiao's eyes gleamed brightly, "I'll let you handle it personally."

As if not sensing the sudden spike in the pressure coming from Ling Xiao's body, Ling Lan continued to stand tall and replied steadily, "What I have said, I will do."

Ling Lan's behaviour made Ling Xiao both proud and sad at the same time. He was proud that his daughter was so independent and strong, but also sad over all the hardship his daughter had had to suffer to support the entire Ling family for these past 16 years. If he had not disappeared for those whole 16 years, how could Ling Lan have turned out like this? Believing that she had to handle everything herself?

At this thought, Ling Xiao was filled with regret. In a low voice, he said, "I'm sorry, these past years have been hard on you."

What these words were referring to, both Ling Xiao and Ling Lan understood very well without needing any further explanation. Ling Lan's heart throbbed, a complicated emotion stealing over her heart. For a moment, she did not know what to say, and the silence stretched out between father and daughter.

Finally, Ling Lan raised her jaw and replied proudly, "I do not feel wronged. I feel that, this shall be one of the most colourful parts of my life. I am glad that I could experience all of that."

Yes, if she had not impersonated a man, would she have made friends with this bunch of steadfast companions and become their boss, working hard and growing up together? At most, she would only have been able to become a girl much like Luo Chao or Han Xuya 1 , chatting about the things girls liked to chat about, fantasizing what their future husbands would look like 2 ... but was that sort of life really what she wanted?

Ling Lan mentally shook her head. She had already gotten used to her current thrilling rollercoaster life with its dramatic ups and downs — a tranquil life would probably feel strange to her now. At the very least, she just could not imagine becoming that kind of sweet and delicate girl like Luo Chao — becoming a tomboy like Han Xuya was perhaps a more likely possibility. At this thought, she began to miss those two girls, wondering how they were doing at the Federal Co-ed Military Starship Navigation Academy ...

"Alright, Ling Lan, You must remember what you've said today. I, Ling Xiao, am proud of you." A trace of emotion brushed across Ling Xiao's eyes. With a daughter like this, how fortunate was he? If he could, he would laugh wildly up into the skies, to better express the full swell of his happiness.

"Father, I will not disappoint you." Ling Lan reeled back her nostalgic thoughts, speaking to Ling Xiao with a serious expression.

Ling Xiao nodded in satisfaction, but his heart was weeping, 'Daughter, if you switch that 'father' into 'daddy', I'll be even happier ...'

Right at that moment, the villa's hall was abruptly lit up. It turned out that Qi Long and the others had finished repairing a small part of the light sources. The greatest contributor was Lin Zhong-qing — he lived up to his role as the team's logistician, repairing all those devices at soonest notice. After that, under the intense repair work of these reactivated devices over the course of 10 minutes in the dark, Ling Lan's entire villa was once again restored to the light. Of course, not everything was as good as it had been previously, but at the very least, the lights were back on, and that was a good thing.

Seeing this, Ling Lan felt that she could not keep her dad, this king of destruction, here any longer in order to save her villa from further catastrophe, so she said, "Father, the assessments begin tomorrow. You had better go back earlier and rest."

Ling Xiao was touched. His daughter was really too considerate, fearing that he would become tired ... in any case, he would not admit that his daughter was sick of him and wanted him out of her house.

Though he was touched, Ling Xiao could not bear leaving his daughter so quickly. He was just about to say that he was not at all tired when Ling Lan suddenly lifted a brow and sent an icy look straight at her father, saying, "Don't you think so too, my father?" In particular, the two words 'my father' was greatly emphasised, pretty much squeezed out from between clenched teeth.

Those phoenix eyes filled with an air of desolation, the subtle warning in her words, that demeanour and tone, was exactly alike when Lan Luofeng was warning him.

And so, Ling Xiao succumbed to tragedy, because he just godd*mn had no resistance at all to this kind of tone and demeanour ...

In the end, Ling Xiao could only leave Ling Lan's villa with a bellyful of resentment and reluctance. Of course, when he left, he did not forget to remind his daughter to report to the assessment point bright and early tomorrow. For a week from now, all of Ling Lan's time had been claimed by this shameless dad, Ling Xiao, and he seemed rather comfortable ordering his daughter around.

After they had sent Ling Xiao off, Ling Lan let out a silent breath. Finally, this great bundle of trouble, her dad was gone ...

When she turned around to see those countless pairs of starry eyes, Ling Lan's headache became worse. It turned out that her troubles were just beginning. She still had to settle these five obviously overexcited and curious little followers before her eyes.

At this thought, Ling Lan could not help but sigh long and loud. Other dads helped their daughters settle problems, so why was it that when it came to her, she as a daughter had to clean up the messes her dad made? As expected, she was not a winner in life in this world. She was not a global sweetheart, a female lead showered with the love of the masses. This was why her life was so tragic, filled with trials and tribulations.

********

After Ling Xiao and the two bodyguards left Ling Lan's villa, they very quickly arrived at the nearest hover car stop, and waited for the next hover car to come.

At this time, one of the bodyguards suddenly spoke up, "Sir, Young Sir Lan is very strong." It was the one who had been closely watching Ling Lan and the others from his position in the corner of the hall all the while.

"Don't call him Young Sir Lan. Just Ling Lan will do," replied Ling Xiao with a subtle smile, "In future, he will be a soldier just like you all. At that time, the both of you will be his senior officers."

"Yes, Sir!" said the two bodyguards in unison. Respect shone from their eyes — General Ling Xiao was just this sort of person, treating every single soldier objectively without caring about their personal statuses.

Soon, the hover car arrived, and the bodyguards opened the door to the backseat, and Ling Xiao boarded the car and sat down. Then, the bodyguards split up. One sat at the back with Ling Xiao while the other sat in the front and swiftly entered the address of their lodgings in the military academy, and the hover car sped off ...

Seated inside the hover car, Ling Xiao still maintained that typical trademark smiling face of his, but the bodyguards by his side could clearly sense his unusually excellent mood.

Ling Xiao was indeed very happy, because today's meeting had proven that Ling Lan's disguise was impeccable. After living with Qi Long and the other boys for so long, they had still not discovered that she was a girl. Just this ability alone would make it much harder for any outsiders to discover Ling Lan's secret; this caused a worry which had been weighing on him all this while to disappear.

She only needed to endure for four years and it would all be over! When she reached her fifth year, he would definitely enlist his daughter into his army division and protect her from close quarters, and then provide her with a life that would truly belong to her ... Ling Xiao mentally clenched a fist and made a promise to himself.

1. Wow, these two haven't been brought up in a while. They're the two girls of the original team 072 who took the CSA enrolment test together with Ling Lan. Luo Chao is Luo Lang's twin sister, while Han Xuya is Han Jijyun's cousin.

2. T/C: Sigh, the gender stereotyping is strong here. I cringe.

Chapter 292 - Ambition!

Outside the regiment commander's office of Leiting headquarters, Lin Zhidong suppressed his urge to flee and forced himself to press the doorbell.

"Who is it?" A cold voice came from within — it was the voice of the current regiment commander of the Leiting Mecha Clan, Qiao Ting.

"Regiment Commander, it is I, Lin Zhidong." Lin Zhidong sucked in a breath and stated in a still relatively steady voice.

"Come in!" At the same time that Qiao Lin's voice rang out, the room's door slid to the left. The first thing that came into Lin Zhidong's sight was a well-built youth with a stern and frosty expression seated on the sofa on the right — he was Qiao Ting.

Meanwhile, on a sofa to his side, another youth was seated. His expression was sinister and he was clearly a little younger than Qiao Ting, and he was currently looking at Lin Zhidong with a wide smile. In fact, this person was actually seated in a position which was even more easily noticeable by anyone entering the room. However, Qiao Ting's aura was too powerful, unable to be ignored, which was why the first person Lin Zhidong saw was Qiao Ting.

Seeing the other youth, Lin Zhidong's expression changed slightly, but he quickly recovered and forced himself to stay calm and walked through the doorway. As intelligent as he was, by now he had already realized that this youth must have come one step earlier to tattle to Regiment Commander Qiao. It looked like he would not be able to overcome this matter easily.

"Sit!" Qiao Ting casually pointed at the sofa across from him, signalling Lin Zhidong to sit down and speak.

Lin Zhidong sat down carefully, as if in the presence of a great enemy — this behaviour of his made a mocking smirk appear on the corner of the other youth's lips.

"I heard Lin say that, a month ago, you initiated a wagered arena battle and lost?" Right then, two deep furrows had appeared on the stern-faced youth's brow. It was clear to see how bad his mood was.

Lin Zhidong bowed his head, deeply ashamed. "I am sorry, Regiment Commander. I was careless."

The youth who had tattled was Qiao Ting's younger brother, Qiao Lin — Lin Zhidong knew that no matter how he tried to explain, it would not stand up against one word from the regiment commander's own blood brother. The regiment commander most certainly had already formed his opinions beforehand, so he might as well admit the fault honestly — the regiment commander might be merciful this way.

Qiao Ting said nothing. His right arm resting on the arm of the sofa, his index finger and middle finger were rubbing vigorously against his thumb — this was a habitual motion of his while in thought.

Qiao Ting's silence made Lin Zhidong even more afraid to say anything; he could only watch silently as he waited for Qiao Ting's decision.

"Freshmen?" Qiao Ting seemed to be inquiring, but also seemed to be talking to himself.

"Yeah, it's that bunch of arrogant freshmen! Even creating a new cadet regiment. Who knows whether in their second year, after entering mecha piloting, this new cadet regiment will still be standing," Qiao Lin butted in with a face full of anger. He cast a cutting glare at Lin Zhidong across from them and said resentfully, "And our Vice Regiment Commander Lin, before fully understanding the other's true strength, impulsively suggested a wagered arena fight, losing all our Leiting's face, even helping to boost the New Cadet Regiment's reputation ..."

Lin Zhidong could only bend his head even lower, hunching into himself. Even if he knew Qiao Lin was saying all this because Qiao Lin was dissatisfied with his position, and so was intentionally mocking him, there was nothing untrue in what the other said. On this matter, his responsibility was indeed the greatest. His tactical error had caused Leiting's reputation to be greatly impacted — if not for the fact that the Tianji incident had coincidentally occurred right after, drawing away the attention of the entire school, Leiting's situation would have been much worse than how it was now.

"Zhidong, so hastily rushing into a wagered arena fight and submitting a wager to fully absorb the other side into our Leiting, was there some special reason behind this?" Qiao Ting stopped the motions of his fingers, peering intently at Lin Zhidong as he asked.

Lin Zhidong looked up in astonishment — he had not expected Regiment Commander Qiao Ting to be willing to hear his explanations. This made Lin Zhidong feel extremely grateful, his loyalty to Qiao Ting increasing by a level higher. He nodded solemnly and said, "Yes, there is one very important reason. I believe that taking in the New Cadet Regiment would push the power of our faction one step further."

"Even if we don't take in those punks, our Leiting will still be the number one faction in the academy." Qiao Lin did not believe Lin Zhidong's words at all, feeling that he was just making excuses.

Lin Zhidong seemed about to say something but stopped. Seeing this, Qiao Ting said, "Just speak if you have something to say. Lin is my younger brother, he will not spread what we say here lightly." Hearing this, Qiao Lin sent a glare in Lin Zhidong's direction, believing that Lin Zhidong was certainly doing this on purpose, trying to get his elder brother to think that he was unreliable.

Lin Zhidong knew that this time, Qiao Lin had truly been offended. Still, Lin Zhidong could do nothing about it — who asked Qiao Lin to find him disagreeable? Till today, he did not know why this was so.

Although Lin Zhidong felt that Qiao Lin was untrustworthy with secrets, since the regiment commander had spoken, Lin Zhidong could not continue to hedge. He passed a document he always kept on him over to Qiao Ting, and indicated for him to take a look.

Qiao Ting flipped it open casually, and then he abruptly sat up straight, the expression on his face becoming grim and focused. Meanwhile, from the moment his brother had flipped open the first page, Qiao Lin had scampered over to peek at the document as well, and when he saw the grading of 'excellent' and 'good' attached to row after row of names, he too was dumbfounded.

Qiao Ting snapped the file closed and asked sternly, "Is this document true?"

Lin Zhidong nodded heavily, "I retrieved it from the S-tier partition of the academy mainframe. There can be no error."

Qiao Ting stood up, pacing back and forth a few times before turning his head to ask, "Who else knows of this information?"

Lin Zhidong replied, "All the other vice regiment commanders of Leiting know, but I've already told them clearly from the start that this information stays with us few. All of the documents were destroyed after they looked at it ..."

"Good, well done!" Qiao Ting shouted abruptly, a slight smile finally appearing on his austere face. He paced back and forth animatedly a few times in the room, involuntarily clenching his fists in his excitement and said, "Their joining would not only advance our Leiting by a step, it might even allow us to become the true rulers of the entire military academy ..."

Qiao Ting's words made Lin Zhidong excited as well. Worked up, he smiled and said, "Yes, that's what I thought back then, which was why I wanted to take in all these freshmen in one go before the other factions discovered this info ..." At this point, Lin Zhidong's smile vanished, his excitement and adrenaline fading, leaving behind only endless regret. "Unfortunately, in the end, I messed up. I did not fully understand the depth of the New Cadet Regiment's strength, thus helping them increase their reputation instead."

Lin Zhidong's words made Qiao Ting's high spirits settle down as well. After some careful consideration, his mood turned up once more and he said, "No, the wagered fight this time did not turn out too terrible. Although Leiting's reputation has been damaged somewhat, the other side's wager has also given us another chance to integrate them into our ranks in the future."

Lin Zhidong raised his head in confused shock, unsure why Regiment Commander Qiao Ting would say this. Was he just trying to console him?

"No, this is not consolation," said Qiao Ting, sensing Lin Zhidong's confusion, "Didn't we promise to help the New Cadet Regiment fend off all harassment from the other factions for two years? This means that, in these two years' time, the New Cadet Regiment will still be right under our watch and will not be consolidated into any of the other factions."

"This wager gives us an excuse to pull the New Cadet Regiment under our wings, preventing any of the other factions from coveting them. Once the two years are up, that will be the chance for us, Leiting, to try our hand again!" Qiao Ting's eyes were filled with fire — just the information in this document alone was worth Leiting spending two years' time to wait and plan.

Just thinking about how he would have a chance to accomplish such a great undertaking, Qiao Ting's face was flushed with vigour and excitement. Finally, he forcefully suppressed the emotional upheaval in his heart and turned to look at Qiao Lin, whose head was spinning in confusion from the other two's conversation, and warned the other, "Lin, everything that you've heard or seen today, not one word can be leaked to the outside. Otherwise, don't blame me for skinning your hide!"

The unforgiving cold glint in Qiao Ting's eyes scared Qiao Lin so much that he shuddered, emphatically shaking his head and saying, "Never, never, I would never!"

Qiao Lin did not dare to disobey — he knew well that his elder brother was an absolutely ruthless person when the occasion called for it, so he would truly do what he dared to threaten. He really did not want to be skinned alive by his brother.

"But two years later, when you, Regiment Commander, enter an army division for your practical training, if the New Cadet Regiment produces another one or two genius mecha operators, I fear that our odds of winning a wagered fight will not be very high still." Having lost once, Lin Zhidong had become extremely cautious. Without Qiao Ting holding the fort, he still felt that it was rather risky.

At these words, Qiao Lin said angrily, "Don't worry! Two years from now, I'll definitely be able to take on the heavy responsibilities of my elder brother and make Leiting even bigger and better!" Qiao Lin had always considered himself to be the next regiment commander of Leiting, so Lin Zhidong's words had once again pricked and irritated him. Yes, he disliked Lin Zhidong so much because the other did not take him seriously, thinking he was an incapable fool — but his mecha skills were clearly not bad, able to place him within the top 5 in his class ... Qiao Lin had never considered the fact that his mecha class was not a special class, merely a regular class.

"Lin, shut up!" Qiao Ting, who had always been gentle and courteous with his own younger brother, instantly berated the other angrily when he heard such foolish and self-deluded 1 words coming from Qiao Lin.

Qiao Lin heard Qiao Ting's angry roar and glared back with an expression of stubborn indignation. However, his eyes were already turning red, a wounded sort of feeling expressed by his gaze.

Seeing Qiao Lin like this caused Qiao Ting to sigh helplessly, "Mecha piloting is not as simple as you imagine it to be. When you advance to intermediate mecha warrior level, I'll bring you with me to a clan battle and let you properly experience the depths of mecha piloting."

He was the reason why Qiao Lin, who did not have much talent in the way of mecha piloting, had refused to listen to the advice of their family and had stubbornly insisted to apply for the Mecha Piloting specialization in the First Academy. Although his ability qualified him for the regular mecha class, in the long run, it was impossible for him to develop to Qiao Ting's level. Still, Qiao Ting knew that Qiao Lin had not given up. He worked very hard — when no one was looking, he had always been training hard in his mecha control. Qiao Lin was willing to use hard work to compensate for his lack of talent — this made Qiao Ting unable to say anything discouraging, only able to sigh in the end.

Lin Zhidong wisely sidestepped this matter between the two Qiao brothers, pretending that he knew nothing. After comforting Qiao Lin, Qiao Ting turned his head to say to Lin Zhidong, "Don't worry. We have to spend six years in the military academy. Even if we go off for practical training in an army division, we will still be military academy students and can still fight on behalf of Leiting."

Lin Zhidong lifted his head in pleasant surprise, "Regiment Commander, you're saying that ..."

"Yes, two years later, I will return once more with my mecha battle squad and host this wagered fight!" After subduing the New Cadet Regiment, in his final year, he would utterly conquer the entire military academy and accomplish his grand goal of complete domination! Sheer naked ambition flashed through Qiao Ting's eyes.

Meanwhile, in the upcoming two years, the New Cadet Regiment would constantly be on Qiao Ting's mind, always within the sphere of his attention!

1. 不知天高地厚: I love the original phrase here, but it would sound strange in context. Literally 'not knowing how high the sky is or how thick the earth is'. Pretty much meaning this person is ignorant and living in his own world.

Chapter 293 - A Trap!

In Li Lanfeng's villa, three uninvited guests were there once again, and their expressions were extremely solemn. These three were Zhao Jun, Han Yu, and Wei Ji.

Seated in the living room flipping through video data, Li Lanfeng saw them drop in suddenly for a visit and stared at them in confusion. He asked, "Why are your expressions so horrible? What has happened?"

Zhao Jun's face was dark as he said, "According to the latest news, the Thunder King has come out of Closed Door Meditation."

Li Lanfeng's finger jerked to a stop in the middle of swiping across the screen, then resumed its motion without any fuss. He asked, "He advanced?"

Han Yu sneered and said, "Yes, he has become the first genius mecha operator in our school who managed to advance to ace operator in his 4th year. Everyone is saying that he will be the next General Ling Xiao!"

"This is a good thing. When the time comes for us to apply for enlistment with the divisions, it won't be like this year where the divisions are being perfunctory, only sending some small fry to handle things," Li Lanfeng replied nonchalantly.

"Li Lanfeng, stop looking at that." Han Yu blocked the screen in Li Lanfeng's hands with a palm. Peering at Li Lanfeng, he said, "Don't you know what this means?"

Li Lanfeng regretfully set the miniature display in his hands aside, lifted his head, and said, "I know. The Thunder King's ascension to ace mecha operator means that he has truly become the number one within the military academy. We are no longer able to threaten his top position."

"Not just that. I'm also worried that he'll take the opportunity to dominate the entire school, perhaps even merging all the factions of the school together to become the true king of the military academy," said Wei Ji with a frown. His initial calm and unruffled air had completely disappeared at this moment — it was clear to see how great a blow the ascension of the Thunder King was to him.

"He won't. He has just advanced to ace; his realm isn't stable yet. The Thunder King will not act against us so quickly." After some thought, Li Lanfeng outright denied this possibility.

"There will come a day when his realm will settle. We all know that the Thunder King has wanted to be the military academy's true king for a very long time," said Han Yu worriedly.

"King, is it ...?" This querying tone of Li Lanfeng was airy, and a chill seemed to envelop the other three, only for the sensation to vanish in the very next second. Startled, they stared at Li Lanfeng — he still had a smile on his face, and the warm air around his body had not shifted for even a moment; it was as if that brief sense of cold had just been their imagination.

"If we want to stop him from becoming the king of the academy, we can only become even stronger." Li Lanfeng did not seem to sense the other three's shock, directly offering his own opinion.

"Although we have all advanced to special-class operator, aside from Zhao Jun, Wei Ji and I are both newbie special-class operators. Being able to stabilise this realm is already not easy, not to mention raising our level further. Probably only Zhao Jun has hope of advancing to ace operator, right?" Han Yu turned to look at the hulking physique of Zhao Jun with a hopeful expression, hoping that he would be able to hear some good news from him.

Zhao Jun shook his head. "I've not sensed the possibility of advancing to ace operator. For the near future, I can only solidify my own abilities as a special-class mecha operator."

Zhao Jun's words made disappointment emerge on Han Yu's and Wei Ji's faces. An ace operator who had stabilised his realm would be able to easily handle up to 5 or 6 special-class operators. Even if their Wuji Mecha Clan sent out a team of special-class operators to gang up on him, they would be no match for the Thunder King ... Furthermore, the Thunder King had other strong and powerful teammates by his side as well, and those people were also special-class operators themselves.

"I never said that 'becoming stronger' meant advancing to ace operator level. That's something that depends on serendipity which cannot be forced." Following their discussion, Li Lanfeng could tell that they had misunderstood his meaning, so he quickly spoke up to clarify.

"If we cannot advance to ace operator level, then how do we become stronger?" Han Yu's face instantly became grim and dark. He really hated this demeanour of Li Lanfeng's which seemed to say he had everything under control, as if indirectly showing them up as idiots. But it just so happened that they currently could not separate themselves from Li Lanfeng's strategic planning. Every time they sought out Li Lanfeng, Han Yu always felt as if his face as regiment commander was smacked thoroughly by Li Lanfeng.

"Since we cannot beat him individually, we can only obtain victory through numbers." Li Lanfeng did not seem to sense Han Yu's displeasure, still composed as he calmly stated his recommendation.

"Numbers? Leiting is the number one faction in our school, and it also has the most members among all the factions. What numbers will we use to obtain victory?" Hearing what Li Lanfeng had to say, Han Yu's face turned even darker — was this Li Lanfeng messing around with him?

"Leiting is indeed the faction with the greatest numbers in our school. None of our other factions can match up to it. But what if we combined two factions together? Or perhaps even three or four factions?" Li Lanfeng felt that the current situation did not allow for units to battle individually anymore; it was time for the factions to work together to bring down Leiting.

Li Lanfeng's words made Han Yu's and Wei Ji's eyes light up. Even as Han Yu was moved by the proposition, he could not help but hesitate a little. "Who knows if Tianji and Doha Central would be willing to collaborate." If their three factions joined forces, even though the Thunder King had advanced to ace operator, Leiting still would not be able to eat them all.

"If we want the Doha faction to work with us, I do have a plan. Right now, Tianji is at their lowest. If both your factions challenge them at the same time, I believe that our rankings will go up a little. Once we become the second faction and gain Doha as an ally, we can work with some other factions. Even without Tianji, that will not affect our going up against Leiting." Li Lanfeng dutifully outlined his plan to Han Yu. As for whether Wuji could climb over that necessary step, that would depend on whether Han Yu had enough resolution as a leader.

Han Yu's complexion was shifting rapidly — his eyes met Wei Ji's and there was an exchange of opinions. Li Lanfeng's recommendation had perfectly scratched the itch nestled deep within Han Yu's heart. He did not dare to oppose Leiting, but he had been eyeing Tianji's number two position for all this time. And now, with Li Lanfeng's reminder, he realised that it was truly a great opportunity to snatch the position of second ... he was moved!

Finally, Han Yu stood up abruptly and slammed a heavy fist onto the tea table before him. Through clenched teeth, he said, "Let's do it."

Having found some direction, Han Yu and Wei Ji quickly said goodbye to Li Lanfeng, while Zhao Jun planned to stay back for a while longer. According to him, Han Yu and Wei Ji were going to busy themselves planning and arranging this matter, and these were things he hated the most, so they should leave him out of it. As long as they told him the time and place of the operation once they were done discussing, that would do.

Han Yu and Wei Ji did not force him, for they knew Zhao Jun was a fierce brute who was all brawn and little brain. And besides, they were indeed returning to look for the top ranks of the Wuji Mecha Clan to discuss things, such as how to best use this chance to join forces with Doha and push Tianji off its pedestal to obtain the number two position in one go. As such, Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng, as external collaborators, were indeed rather unsuitable to be present at their meeting with the upper ranks of Wuji.

Zhao Jun walked the two out of Li Lanfeng's villa and then returned to the living room. He peered intently at Li Lanfeng for several seconds and then asked, "You're really that nice?" Knowing how black-bellied Li Lanfeng was so far and how he liked to entrap others, Zhao Jun just did not believe Li Lanfeng would be so generous this time and give out such a good suggestion freely.

Li Lanfeng stretched leisurely, cast an accusatory glance back at Zhao Jun, and said, "I've always been very nice, okay?" He definitely would not admit that he was a black-bellied fellow.

"Always?" Zhao Jun's lips twitched. These words were just too fake!

"Fine, I do indeed have some small ulterior motive. I want to know, when the Thunder King is still unable to become the true king of the military academy after advancing to ace operator level, will he be angry enough to vomit blood?" admitted Li Lanfeng with a laugh. He too felt that his previous words were too far off the mark.

"Lanfeng, do you hate the Thunder King very much?" After a beat of silence, Zhao Jun suddenly spoke up to ask.

Li Lanfeng's smile stiffened as he turned back to ask incredulously, "Zhao Jun, why would you think that?"

"Frankly, whether or not the Thunder King manages to consolidate all the factions in the school has nothing at all to do with us. We might be collaborators with Wuji today, but we might not be tomorrow. We have had no issues in contention at all with the Thunder King, but every scheme of yours seems to be setting up roadblocks in the Thunder King's path to becoming king ... I can't help but suspect your motives."

Zhao Jun was very frank — he, like Li Lanfeng, was from a third-rate planet. It could be said that qualifying for the First Men's Military Academy was definitely a one in a million chance. Therefore, besides them, no one else from their respective planets had managed to get in — this caused them to feel like they did not belong to any of the factions. Many times, Zhao Jun felt as if Li Lanfeng was just playing with the world around him. With deft and skilful manipulations, he would incite conflicts between several large factions, like just now, especially hopeful that they would actually break out into a great fight.

Zhao Jun's words made Li Lanfeng laugh once more. "I have no grudge against the Thunder King, but just imagine this — the Thunder King has everything within his grasp, but because of us small fishes from third-rate planets, his path to domination becomes riddled with difficulties and challenges, so much so that he will not succeed. Don't you think that's very interesting?"

"You ..." Zhao Jun gaped at Li Lanfeng in shock. He had never known that Li Lanfeng was holding such thoughts.

"I only want to prove that even if we come from third-rate planets, we can still stir up a storm of bloody trouble within this military academy ..." Even though I am still weak and vulnerable right now, I can still prevent that person from becoming king ... The smiling Li Lanfeng adeptly secreted his true thoughts deep within his heart. There were some secrets that should never be shared.

Zhao Jun could only shake his head in resignation at those words. "Alright, your words are convincing. I would also like to see if that Thunder King can overcome all the difficulties to climb to the pinnacle of the school." Watching the show and whatnot were the things he most liked to do 1 .

Even though Li Lanfeng still had a smile on his face, there was an emptiness in his eyes, along with endless coldness.

"I have another question. If we plan to ally with other factions to go against the Thunder King, why do you want Wuji to go challenge Tianji? That's obviously against your original plan." Zhao Jun very quickly came up with another question. He was not at all as simple-minded as Han Yu and the others thought he was — the things he needed to know, he picked up on them much better than Han Yu and the others would.

"Compared to the Thunder King, you hate Tianji even more." Knowing Li Lanfeng too well, Zhao Jun stated his conclusion with conviction. "So, even if the timing is inappropriate, you still egged on Han Yu and the others to act against Tianji. Why is that?"

"Have you not heard about the horrific incident which happened a few days ago?" Hearing Zhao Jun ask this question, Li Lanfeng's smile finally disappeared.

"The murder of Shi Mingyi?" That was the first thing that sprang to Zhao Jun's mind.

"Since Tianji had such a shameless and despicable vice regiment commander, it's about time they paid the price," said Li Lanfeng coldly. At this moment, he no longer had any trace of warmth around him — it was clear to see how deep his hatred of this sort of thing ran 1 ...

1. T/C: Welcome to the popcorn club, Zhao Jun.

2. T/C: Here we are probably seeing Li Lanfeng projecting his fears and taking it out on Tianji. And so Li Lanfeng takes his turn beating up Tianji after Boss Lan has already had her fun.