Chapter 187 - 306 - 311

Chapter 306 - Joining!

The instructors were all silent in the face of these reports. They only began discussing the reports in hushed voices after a good long while. After conversing for a while with his instructors, Li Shiyu clenched his teeth and walked over to stand before Ling Lan and apologised, "Our medical agents have been used before by countless people, and none of them have ever presented with a situation like Qi Long's. This could very well be due to his special physical constitution. Still, whatever the case, this is our error. I'm sorry, Ling Lan."

"You can save the apology. All I want to know is whether this will cause problems for Qi Long in the future?" Ling Lan's cold gaze pierced right through Li Shiyu, as if warning Li Shiyu not to even think about bluffing his way through.

"I don't know. Because this is a unique case, never having occurred before, I cannot tell if Qi Long will present with a similar situation in future. What I can confirm is that this agent will not harm Qi Long's body permanently in any way. In fact, you could say that even if it acts up in the future, it will only bring benefits and no harm."

Frankly, Li Shiyu really wanted to say 'no, this is just an outlier case', but out of responsibility to his patient, Li Shiyu just could not utter those words. This was because he himself could not say for certain whether this situation of Qi Long's was just a one-time thing or if it would be a reoccurring issue all his life — after all, this condition of Qi Long's was truly just too bizarre; no one could say anything definite about it at present.

Hearing this, Ling Lan's raging aura rose once more. She gripped Li Shiyu by the front of his white robe, pulled him close before her, and said with a murderous expression, "What do you mean by 'will not harm him permanently in any way'? What is this 'every time it acts up it'll only bring benefit'? Do you know that Qi Long will have to go onto a battlefield in future? If this kind of situation happens during regular times, we can still send him straight to a doctor for treatment. But what if it happens to break out during a battle? On the battlefield, any bit of error could cost him his life. Do you think that if this happens in that situation, Qi Long can survive?"

Ling Lan's blunt questioning left Li Shiyu's mouth twitching helplessly. Indeed, the scenario Ling Lan had described could very well happen. If the agent acted up on the battlefield, the only fate that awaited Qi Long was death — the enemy would not wait for Qi Long to get over this brief period of incapacitation.

Remorse sprang up in Li Shiyu's heart. Although his intentions had been good, thinking to give his younger cousin's friends a small boost in power, who could have expected that this agent would not be suitable for people of all physical constitutions ...? All their previous tests and trials had actually missed out on finding this flaw in the agent.

At this time, one of the instructors walked over. Extremely apologetic, he said, "I am sorry. The reaction of this student to the agent is something we've never seen before. This agent of ours has already been used on countless hundred thousands of people, and none have ever exhibited the side-effects this student has. This might be a special case, but it cannot be denied that this is an error on the part of our Military Medical Research Centre. We will take responsibility for it. Please raise any requests you may have as long as it's within our means."

At these words, Ling Lan released her grip on Li Shiyu's chest and replied evenly, "Requests? I only have one request, and that is that my brother cannot lose his life because of this agent. As long as you all can resolve this, I can pretend as if nothing had happened ..."

Ling Lan's request caused the instructor's expression to become troubled. "I am sorry. Cadet, right now, we have not yet developed an agent which can alleviate the symptoms of this reaction instantaneously. You might have to wait for some time ..."

The instructor could not promise anything. After all, they had always thought that this reaction would only occur right after injection. Once the patient bore it till the end, the agent would be done with its work. They had never had to consider how to alleviate these reaction symptoms, because only by riding through this agonizing pain would the patient's body benefit fully. At most, they would just do as they were doing for Qi Long now, adding a little restorative agent into the mix to restore a little of the patient's stamina and spiritual power to help the patient hang on through the pain ...

"How long do we have to wait? One year? Two years? Three years? Or perhaps five years? Ten years? Perhaps even longer?" A trace of mockery hung on Ling Lan's lips. The disdain in her eyes made the instructor somewhat disgruntled, but he had no way to rebut what Ling Lan had said. The instructors of the military medicine specialization had always based everything they said and did by the data — with regards to something they had yet to research, they truly could not give a specific time frame. It was as Ling Lan said; they might need 8 or 10 years to come up with an answer.

"Could it be that you want my brother to constantly be under threat of death during this period while you all are researching a solution? Any unfortunate mishap, and he could become the first death caused by your agent?" asked Ling Lan with a sneer.

"No, we have no intentions of letting that happen. If possible, we can give military headquarters a report so that Cadet Qi Long can be exempted from the battlefield and become a support staff officer ..." the instructor hurried to explain, stating a short-term suggestion they could think of.

"Sir, do you know what our specialization is? We are from the Mecha Piloting specialization. The reason we chose this specialization is because we want to fight on the frontlines of the battlefield and not hide at the back like a coward. Your suggestion is without question an insult to both me and my brother," barked Ling Lan in response to his words.

Ling Lan's furious demeanour deepened the instructor's remorse; he too felt he had misspoken. He quickly asked, "Then, what do you want?"

Ling Lan swept an icy glare around the Military Medical Research Centre, and everyone there instinctively ducked their heads, avoiding eye contact. At this moment, everyone present had become suppressed by Ling Lan's cold and domineering force of presence, including those rational-minded instructors.

Then, Ling Lan was heard to say measuredly, "I hope for a military doctor who has graduated from the Military Medical Research specialization to join my battle clan to watch over my brothers' physical condition in the long run. Because, after accepting your treatment, other than the current patient Qi Long, there is still my other brother Luo Lang!" Ling Lan pointed at Luo Lang standing behind her and continued, "Right now, I cannot confirm whether the same condition will present itself in this brother of mine. After all, after undergoing treatment here, he has suffered a relapse before."

Ling Lan's gaze met Li Shiyu's as she spoke, and Li Shiyu's forehead creased slightly in a small frown. Regarding Luo Lang's injuries, Li Shiyu was extremely certain that the centre was not at fault. However, they did not have any persuasive proof otherwise at the moment, so they could only silently bear the blame.

"As Dux Li was the one who caused all this, being responsible for treating my two brothers, I hope for Dux Li to shoulder this responsibility and become a member of my battle clan to watch over the wellbeing of my clan members." Ling Lan finally revealed her true objective.

"No, this is impossible. Cadets from the military medicine specializations are not allowed to join any battle clans. This is an academy regulation," the instructor refused vehemently. Mind you, all the students trained by the military medicine specializations in the academy would end up as outstanding elite doctors of the medical world. As such, they needed to be available to serve the army as a whole and not be tied down to a small battle clan — that would be such a huge waste of talent. Especially in the case of Li Shiyu — he was the most outstanding prodigy of their specialization. The instructors all had high hopes for him, hoping that he would ultimately become the greatest hand of god of the military medicine world one day. This prodigy they had invested so much time and effort in cultivating ... how could they bear to hand him over to some small battle clan?

"Sir, as far as I know, the academy does not have this rule in black and white. At most, this is just a mutual agreement and tradition of this school. You should know that any rule that is not clearly stated is not inviolable. And the fact of the matter is that my two brothers have presented with problems at Dux Li's hands. According to rule 68 subsection 21 of the academy's rules: when an accidental incident occurs (including events such as fights and tournaments, medical cases, risky research studies, etcetera), whoever is responsible for the damages will be the one held responsible for reparation. Based on this regulation, my request is not asking for too much." Ling Lan read the regulation Little Four had dug up for her, and then asked the instructor sharply, "Is the Military Medical Research Centre trying to brush off this responsibility? Or perhaps you all want to go against this regulation?"

"No, that's not it. This ... this ..." Under Ling Lan's aggressive questioning, the instructor was actually rendered speechless. He looked at Li Shiyu, then looked back again at the dogged Ling Lan, and was instantly as anxious as an ant on a hot plate 1 , completely at a loss what to do.

The other instructors saw that things were looking bad — they quickly turned on their communicators and secretly contacted the faculty head of the military medicine specialization, hoping that he would hurry over and resolve this sudden incident. As Li Shiyu's instructors, they did not wish for Li Shiyu to be limited to developing in a small battle clan.

Right at that moment, Li Shiyu, who had been calmly contemplating for a long while, suddenly shouted, "I, am willing to take responsibility!"

Li Shiyu felt that Ling Lan was right. Leaving the matter of Luo Lang aside, Qi Long's condition today was indeed the fault of their Military Medical Research Centre. And since the one who had requested for Qi Long to be given the gene agent S-modification was him, Li Shiyu, he really had no grounds to deflect this responsibility.

Of course, Li Shiyu had initially hoped to enter the best treatment department after graduating, to learn more about more obscure medical arts, treatments, and agents, and study them in depth. Because this way, he would have an even greater chance of curing that bizarre illness of his eldest cousin brother 1 . However, he did not want to evade responsibility. Since Qi Long had suffered as a result of his actions, he was willing to use his own future to compensate for this burden of guilt.

Li Shiyu mentally apologised to his eldest cousin brother in his heart, because this decision of his would undoubtedly cause his cousin to suffer for a little longer. Still, he believed that as long as he worked hard to learn and research, even though it might take him a little longer, he was still confident that he would eventually be able to fully cure that feeble body of his cousin. It was precisely due to this unshakeable confidence that Li Shiyu would shoulder this responsibility so readily.

Hearing Li Shiyu's resolute answer, Ling Lan mentally pumped a fist in her heart with a loud cheer of 'YES, Success!'

After expending all that effort, she had finally snatched this prodigy for her battle clan. Even though her methods were rather despicable, in order to guarantee the lives and safety of her brothers, she would even stoop to even more despicable means. Ling Lan did not regret her actions in the least. She was not a saintly matron — she could not care for the entire Federation army; she could only care for these brothers by her side.

Thus, when Ling Lan looked at Li Shiyu, her gaze was placid and self-assured with not one hint of remorse within it. Ling Lan firmly believed that — Heaven destroys those who don't look out for themselves. This classic line which had been preserved through the ages certainly could not be wrong.

Soon after, the faculty head rushed over, only to hear that the two sides had already come to an agreement. Li Shiyu had agreed to join Ling Lan's battle clan. The head was instantly racked with heartache. However, faced with a resolute Li Shiyu, he could not convince the other to change his mind. In the end, the faculty head could only plead with Ling Lan to promise that he would not leak the news of Li Shiyu joining his battle clan. The faculty head did not wish for the other excellent students his specialization was cultivating with such care to be taken away by even more battle clans ...

Ling Lan's objective had been achieved, so she naturally would not refuse this entreaty of the faculty head. She agreed without hesitation. Just like this, Ling Lan's battle clan was the first ever to include a student from the military medicine specialization in its ranks, and it would also be the only battle clan to possess a military doctor. Meanwhile, at this time, Li Shiyu was unaware, but the curtains of his very own legend were about to be raised 1 .

1. Dance, ant, dance. Think running around aimlessly in panic.

2. T/C: Li Shiyu ... you are such a pure soul. You don't deserve to be toyed with by both Li Lanfeng and Ling Lan. T^T

3. T/C: How Ling Lan tricked him into her clan might be rather despicable, but I guess it's nice of the author to confirm that things turn out well for Li Shiyu in the end. Ling Lan never mistreats her people after all.

Chapter 307 - Battle Clan Members!

Although the other five members of Ling Lan's team were sympathetic towards Li Shiyu, who at present appeared to be extremely tragic and innocent in all this, they were still deeply impressed by their boss's grand feat this time. He had actually managed to tie Li Shiyu to their battle force.

After all, having such an exceptional military doctor like Li Shiyu in their battle clan meant their lives had an additional layer of protection when they entered the battlefield. Ling Lan had undoubtedly given them an extra protective life-saving talisman. At this thought, Qi Long and the other four were filled with even more gratitude and respect for Boss Lan.

As for the two other new members Boss Lan had mentioned, Qi Long and the others did not know much. They only knew that one of them was a mecha mechanic, while the other was a mecha operator who was a primary attacker.

Just when the time was about to hit 1300 1 , Lin Zhong-qing, who had been observing the surroundings all this time, suddenly yelled out in the comms channel, "Stop the chitchat. Boss is coming!"

The busily chatting group instantly fell silent, all of them turning their heads to look for the figure of their boss. Coming in diagonally from the right before them, three mecha were swiftly approaching. Two of the three were intermediate mecha, while the last was an advanced mecha.

"Of the two intermediate mecha, one of them should be Boss's," remarked Lin Zhong-qing. As the one who communicated most often with Boss Lan, he was well aware of the current level of Ling Lan's mecha.

He had barely finished speaking when the three mecha came to a stop before them. The five of them received a private message from Ling Lan almost simultaneously, requesting for them to join her party. When Qi Long received the message, he immediately disbanded their previous party of five. Right afterwards, he received Ling Lan's party invitation.

[No Mecha Unrepaired] saw the standardised names with 'Lingtian' before them — [Lingtian Combat], [Lingtian Abacus], [Lingtian Parcel], [Lingtian Razor] 1 , [Lingtian Substitute] — scrolling rapidly across his screen as they joined [Lingtian First-String]'s battle clan one after the other, and his heart was instantly overcome with emotion.

Not too long ago, he had still been worrying over his future because he did not know whether he would be accepted by any battle clan. The grudge between him and the Thunder King had been major news at one point in Mecha World — skilled battle clans that knew about this past history would very likely be unwilling to accept him in order to avoid offending the Thunder King, who was powerful and influential inside Mecha World.

Meanwhile, if he wanted to graduate from the military academy, he would need to join a battle clan. Otherwise, he would not be able to complete those courses which required one. Just as he was at a loss, [No Mecha Unrepaired] had been surprised by [Lingtian First-String] initiating contact. The other had asked him outright if he would be interested to join the other's clan.

This was undoubtedly a straw to clutch at for [No Mecha Unrepaired]. His first reflex was to agree immediately, but luckily, he was still somewhat rational. After calming down, he began to consider the consequences of joining. He could not bring trouble to someone who had helped him before, even though [Lingtian First-String] was indeed very strong.

Thus, [No Mecha Unrepaired] asked [Lingtian First-String] why the other had invited him to join. He also asked if [Lingtian First-String] knew the consequences of inviting him to join. This would certainly offend the Thunder King's faction and may impact the development of [Lingtian First-String]'s battle clan in the future.

Unexpectedly, [Lingtian First-String] only responded with two words, "So what?"

Even as [No Mecha Unrepaired] was touched by this, he was utterly speechless. He then asked [Lingtian First-String] — could it be that he did not want his battle clan to develop properly? It should be known that with a powerful faction applying pressure on them and seeking trouble at every turn, perhaps even interrupting and obstructing them in all of their missions, the other's battle clan would never be able to develop. The clan would only be able to barely survive under the abuse of the Thunder King's faction ... [No Mecha Unrepaired] believed that this was not something [Lingtian First-String] wanted to see.

To his surprise, [Lingtian First-String] did not answer his question, instead asking him in return whether he dared to fight with him.

[Lingtian First-String] did not say that he was not afraid of the Thunder King, nor any other empty words like they would be fine as long as they distanced themselves from the Thunder King's faction. He simply asked [No Mecha Unrepaired] whether he would fight, proving that the other had long considered the severe repercussions of inviting [No Mecha Unrepaired] into his battle clan. This meant that the other's invitation was not an impulsive act but a decision made after deep contemplation.

Upon hearing this question of [Lingtian First-String]'s, [No Mecha Unrepaired] no longer hesitated, agreeing readily. [No Mecha Unrepaired] still recalled how his tears had fallen uncontrollably at the moment he accepted. Perhaps his heart had already become fatigued from resisting the Thunder King's faction alone for so long. The sudden appearance of a friend who was willing to fight by his side was like a shot of heart tonic to him — he had hope once again. [No Mecha Unrepaired] silently made a vow. If he and [Lingtian First-String] truly managed to overcome this hurdle, he would serve [Lingtian First-String]'s battle clan for the rest of his life. Only comrades who were willing to share their burdens and brave trials together were worthy of a lifetime of dedication.

[No Mecha Unrepaired] was well aware that if no battle clan invited him, he would ultimately only have two paths before him. One was to retain his dignity and drop out of school resentfully in the end, while the other was to bow his proud head, break his proud bones, and give up on his dignity to become a subordinate of the Thunder King ... of these two paths, he did not want either of them, and [Lingtian First-String]'s invitation was undoubtedly a third path of salvation from a desperate situation ... Although the future of this third path was vague and uncertain, [No Mecha Unrepaired] was willing to take the risk and fight.

"[No Mecha Unrepaired] shall be the future mecha mechanic of our battle clan. From now on, if you all have any problems with your mecha, you can look for him directly," Ling Lan pointed at [No Mecha Unrepaired], who was lost in his thoughts, and introduced him to the others.

"Oh, so you're that [No Mecha Unrepaired] who had been pressured so much by the Thunder King that you've been driven to a corner ..." [Lingtian Substitute], who was Xie Yi, was the first to exclaim in realisation.

As the public representative of the team dealing with external relations, Xie Yi had always been collecting all information generated within the military academy. He naturally knew quite a lot about [No Mecha Unrepaired]'s matter, even knowing [No Mecha Unrepaired]'s true name in the real world. However, right now they were only a virtual battle clan in Mecha World, and Xie Yi was unsure whether [No Mecha Unrepaired] was to be a permanent member or a member under temporary contract — so, before Boss Lan explicitly defined the other's status within the clan, Xie Yi would still cautiously call [No Mecha Unrepaired] by his username in Mecha World.

"Ah, you all know about that too ...?" asked [No Mecha Unrepaired] with a wry chuckle. He had not expected his story to have become so widespread.

"Yes. Trapped in the newbie town for close to 3 years, never succeeding in stepping out of the town by even one step ... your story has been widely discussed on the Mecha World official forums. I just happened to see it," replied Xie Yi with a smile.

"Looks like, after almost 3 years, the Thunder King still has no intention of letting me be," said [No Mecha Unrepaired] with a troubled expression, "I'm very grateful for [Lingtian First-String]'s invitation to join your team. However, now that you all know as well that the Thunder King is still unwilling to leave me alone till today, once I join the battle clan, great trouble is sure to follow. If you all disagree on my joining due to this, it's still not too late."

"Why would we disagree? What Boss has decided, we will of course uphold," [Lingtian Razor], a.k.a. 1 Luo Lang, responded instantly.

"[Lingtian First-String] is your boss?" [No Mecha Unrepaired] exclaimed in shock. He would never have guessed that [Lingtian First-String], who operated an intermediate mecha just like him, would actually be the boss of this bunch of advanced mecha warriors. However, [No Mecha Unrepaired]'s surprise quickly faded, because he recalled how astoundingly strong [Lingtian First-String] had been even when he had just been operating a rabbit trainee mecha. Perhaps the other had just not upgraded to a better mecha for some reason. [No Mecha Unrepaired] began to construct endless idealisations around [Lingtian First-String] — no one would be willing to believe that the formidable [Lingtian First-String] was in fact truly just an intermediate mecha warrior in Mecha World ...

"This here is [Priceless Kinship], our future doctor," said Ling Lan tonelessly, pointing at [Priceless Kinship]; this introduction was much less meticulous and serious than when she had introduced [No Mecha Unrepaired].

[No Mecha Unrepaired] took a peek at [Priceless Kinship], who was as silent as ever despite hearing [Lingtian First-String]'s simple introduction. Even though he had rushed here together with the other, [Lingtian First-String] had not introduced them to each other prior to this. The whole way here, [Priceless Kinship] had not made a peep — he seemed rather cold and hard to get along with. [No Mecha Unrepaired] wondered silently whether the other was like him, only having been invited by [Lingtian First-String] to join the battle clan recently. This was because the other's name was like his, not beginning with 'Lingtian'.

In contrast to the enthusiasm with which they had welcomed [No Mecha Unrepaired], after hearing [Lingtian First-String]'s introduction, the five other people there abruptly fell silent. After that, several muttered welcomes rang out within the comms channel, sounding somewhat perfunctory, or perhaps dispirited and uncertain. And the final rather awkward welcome came from [Lingtian Combat].

"Brother Kinship 1 , this junior's body is in your care now. But please don't let any other accidents occur ..." Closely following that welcome was a short speech by [Lingtian Combat]. There was a trace of forced cheer in his tone and also a trace of lingering fear — this made [No Mecha Unrepaired] glance curiously at [Priceless Kinship]. Could it be that there was some deeper secret behind his joining?

Hearing [Lingtian Combat]'s words, the initially rather cold and detached [Priceless Kinship] instantly responded seriously, "I will not make the same mistake twice. Please do not worry." Towards the one he had wronged, Li Shiyu could no longer maintain his aloofness even though he was not particularly pleased with the clan leader Ling Lan.

At this moment, [Lingtian Abacus], a.k.a. Han Jijyun, seemed to sense the awkward atmosphere, and so quickly changed the topic to ask, "Boss, didn't you say there were three new recruits? Where's the last one?"

Ling Lan replied, "I've already notified him to come over."

She had barely finished speaking when an advanced mecha could be seen flying here at high speed. It came to an abrupt stop before them without even slipping into a slide step from the inertia. This move completely proved just how skilful the other's control was, causing the eyes of Qi Long, Luo Lang, and the others to light up. They could tell at a glance that the other's control was definitely first-class — Qi Long, in particular, found competitive spirit flaring up in his heart. He really wished he could fight one match with the other immediately to see who was stronger.

Everyone in the party quickly saw a notification appear on their own mecha's screens: [Self-Defined Destiny] has joined team Lingtian.

"[Self-Defined Destiny], another member of our battle clan. A mecha operator, he is a combat member," Ling Lan introduced. Everyone greeted [Self-Defined Destiny] warmly. Only Han Jijyun subtly quirked a brow even as he greeted the other, because he had sensed something different in the way his boss had introduced [Self-Defined Destiny]. Even though his boss's tone had been as dispassionate as usual, Han Jijyun had still picked up a subtle difference — this made Han Jijyun begin to take careful note of [Self-Defined Destiny].

[Self-Defined Destiny] saw five others who had the same start to their names as [Lingtian First-String] and knew that these five people must be the most stable and permanent members of the Lingtian Battle Clan. He quickly greeted them warmly in return, though he was equally earnest in greeting [No Mecha Unrepaired] and [Priceless Kinship]. Since he truly wanted to integrate himself into the Lingtian Battle Clan, then he needed to establish a good relationship with every member. On this front, Li Lanfeng did not dare to slack off.

1. This is military time for 1 p.m.

2. From now on, I'll be using 'razor' here instead of 'sharp blade'. It just occurred to me as a better word. Retroactive edits have been made.

3. a.k.a. stands for 'also known as'.

4. T/C: Haha, it's so cute how Qi Long is cutting Li Shiyu's username short to make this nickname. I wonder if he calls the others 'Razor' or 'Parcel'.

Chapter 308 - Accepting a Mission!

In this first meeting, Qi Long and the other four as well as [No Mecha Unrepaired] all felt that [Self-Defined Destiny] was a pretty decent guy. His demeanour was warm and gentle, making others feel as if graced by a spring breeze. Only [Priceless Kinship], a.k.a. Li Shiyu, was still a little puzzled, because the other's aura gave him a sense of familiarity and affinity, just like how Li Lanfeng had made him feel back when they first met ...

Li Shiyu could not help but mentally shake his head, laughing at himself for being a little too sensitive. Perhaps this person was just a pleasant-tempered person like Li Lanfeng, which was why he would give him this feeling of similarity ... Li Shiyu knew well that the reason he was so attuned to this sort of aura was that his eldest cousin brother radiated the exact same type of aura. His eldest cousin brother just could not become a mecha operator in reality like Li Lanfeng, nor could he enter Mecha World to become an advanced mecha warrior like [Self-Defined Destiny].

Although Mecha World was a virtual world, its advancement levels also drew from the true physical condition of the players in real life. If one's physical constitution in the real world did not meet the standards for advancement, one would also be unable to successfully advance in the virtual world.

Thus, Li Shiyu had never even considered the possibility that his eldest cousin brother might have entered Mecha World and become an advanced mecha warrior. This type of habitual thinking caused him to miss this earliest opportunity of discovering the truth. It was only many years later when he would come to realise that he had actually already touched upon the truth from the very beginning — he had merely brushed it aside.

After the few of them got to know one another, Ling Lan led them in a sprint towards the manor of the city lord of Grandsweep City. That was the place where one could accept the mission to build a battle clan. Ling Lan wanted to complete this mission today.

In the square, all the unaffiliated mecha operators watched as the team sprinted towards the city lord's manor, and they could pretty much confirm that the party was on their way to build a battle clan. They could not help but sigh ... why could they not be one of the members in that party?

One mecha operator who could not abide seeing others do well could not help but curse them silently in his heart, "I hope their luck is bad and they don't get a mission ..."

In Mecha World, the mission to establish a battle clan was not that easy to obtain. At present, the sources for these missions as posted on the official forums were truly all kinds of strange 1 , different in so many ways. Some could be accepted directly from the city lord, with some of those being received at the official hall of the city lord's manor. There was even one battle clan which had been oddball enough to receive the mission from the janitor at the city lord's manor, while there were also clans that visited the manor multiple times to no avail ... not only that, the missions received also varied in difficulty. Some battle clans had a burst of great luck, managing to receive a supremely easy mission. It could be as easy as merely having to deliver a letter to obtain the clan formation token, thus successfully building one's battle clan. In contrast, there were some missions which were loaded with challenges — they might not be completed even after many attempts where the clan members would be wiped out again and again.

Thus from jealousy sprung hate — the unaffiliated players without a battle clan could not help but be resentful, hoping that these teams which qualified to establish battle clans would fail in their missions.

After speaking with the mecha operator guarding the gates of the city lord's manor, they found out that only the team leader could enter to accept the mission. So Ling Lan asked the others to wait for her at the gates before speaking with the mecha operator once more to choose the option of establishing a battle clan. The next second, she was transported into the city lord's manor. The moment one entered the manor, one would automatically be ejected from one's mecha to appear with one's regular appearance. Otherwise, the large hulking mecha would certainly have destroyed the city lord's manor.

The location one was transported to was utterly random, just like the way one could receive a mission. The place Ling Lan came to was a corridor. Ling Lan could not help but frown — the best spot to be transported to was the great hall of the manor. That way, it would be much more convenient to find the official hall or the city lord's office, and the success rate of obtaining a mission would be much higher. In contrast, it was hard to tell with this corridor, because you would not be able to tell which doorway you should choose. This was completely a test of luck.

But was it truly just a test of luck? 1 Ling Lan did not rush to look for a way out, instead standing where she had landed to think things through rationally.

Common sense would dictate that there should not be that many restrictions in the way of forming a battle clan. After all, the formation of a battle clan would band unaffiliated mecha operators together, greatly cultivating the cooperation and rapport between mecha operators, which would bring more potential out of the mecha operators within a clan. It could be said that for this type of battle clan that was established early, when enlisting as a clan into an army division, they could clearly skip the period new troops needed to acclimatise to work with one another. They could become an extremely efficient battle unit in a very short period of time.

Without question, this was an excellent model to foster a nation of soldiers. At critical junctures, even the common public could swiftly turn into extremely capable old hands at fighting, equipped with the ability to work in groups to boot.

In that case, why would such a brilliant model have so many restrictions placed on it? With even the process of accepting the clan-formation mission being so abstruse? Ling Lan could not help but recall the associated tests back during the enrolment for the scout academy and the military academy. A flash of insight coursed through her mind — could this also be a type of test? However, the ones being tested this time were them, the incipient clan leaders ... what the Federation needed were exceptional leaders who could lead their team members to grow and develop together. Were they trying to weed out those applicant clan leaders who did not have the ability and were only here muddying the waters, to prevent them from destroying the futures of their clan members?

Thinking about it this way, everything made sense — it could be explained why there were so many restrictions involved in the formation of a battle clan now. Ling Lan even felt that those party leaders who were unable to obtain a mission were in fact not unlucky as most believed. After entering the city lord's manor, their choices and actions must have been evaluated by the mainframe of Mecha World and found unsuitable for the role of clan leader. Perhaps that's how they lost the right to receive the mission?

In other words, right when one entered the city lord's manor, the assessment for the party leader had already begun!

At this point in her train of thought, Ling Lan could not help but sweatdrop. How much did this world love its hidden tests? Even when they were playing a game 1 , they could not avoid this hurdle ... Having reached this conclusion, Ling Lan naturally raised her guard up to 120%. After all, this would determine whether or not her battle clan could be formed. Even if she did not do it for herself, she would need to take responsibility on behalf of her followers and friends!

"Little Four, split the corridor into several smaller screens. Do not overlook any single small corner. I need to understand everything about this area," Ling Lan finally spoke up to give Little Four instructions.

Without demur, Little Four broke the image of the corridor into countless smaller images and displayed them to Ling Lan in her mindspace. Ling Lan began to study each picture carefully, clicking through them one by one. It didn't take long before she was done scrutinising all of the images.

Ling Lan's brow scrunched up tighter and tighter because she could not see anything strange on any of the images. It should be said that the corridor was absolutely normal. There were only two doorways — one was behind Ling Lan, so it should be the entrance, while the other was at the end of the corridor, so it should be the exit ...

Am I just overthinking things? Ling Lan could not help but wonder. Suddenly thinking of something, she abruptly clicked back to one of the images. It was an image of one corner of the corridor — right beside it was a large flower garden, and there was a gardener busy at work inside.

For a person to randomly appear like that in the flower garden, just when she was looking to accept a mission, Ling Lan felt that this was very suspicious.

"Little Four, this gardener, investigate them for me," Ling Lan instructed Little Four as she pointed at the sweat-drenched gardener.

Little Four obeyed immediately, beginning to flip through and investigate everything he could about the existence of the gardener. In the end, he returned jubilantly, eyes sparkling as he looked at Ling Lan, to say adoringly, "Boss, it's as you suspected. There is a huge problem with this person." If not for his boss sensing something strange about the situation, Little Four, who had not thought of taking the initiative to investigate, would have completely missed this opportunity to discover the truth.

At Little Four's response, Ling Lan's eyes lit up. "It's good as long as there is a problem. Who is he exactly?"

"He's no gardener. He's actually the lord of this manor, the city lord of Grandsweep City, Luo Yixuan," answered Little Four smugly. As long as it was something he wanted to find out, no matter how hard the Mecha World mainframe tried to conceal it, the information could never escape his keen fire-gold eyes 1 .

"So, the clan-formation mission should be on him." The corner of Ling Lan's lips quirked. What a windfall ... her luck was truly pretty good! Still, the mainframe of Mecha World was really quite despicable, actually disguising a city lord as a gardener. If she had not carefully studied the situation in the corridor, perhaps she might have walked all the way to the end and went off to god knows where. It was likely that she would not have ever obtained a mission then.

"For him to appear in this path you must go through to obtain a mission, Boss, and with the fact that he is the head here, that's probably close to the mark." Little Four agreed with Ling Lan's analysis, believing that the mission must be with the city lord.

Since she had found her target, Ling Lan quickly walked over to the gardener's side and silently waited for the gardener to finish up what he was doing. Ling Lan's patience was excellent, and she believed it was better not to disturb someone as they were working.

The gardener finished planting the tree sapling in his hands and was just turning around to pick up another sapling when he was startled greatly by Ling Lan standing behind him. His expression changed and he pointed at Ling Lan angrily and asked, "Hey, why are you standing behind me?! Don't you know that's very frightening?"

"Frightening? If you were a normal gardener, perhaps that might be true. But is Your Lordship really just an ordinary gardener?" said Ling Lan casually. Framed by that cold stony face of hers, it did not come off very friendly. However, Ling Lan was oblivious about this, because her demeanour when speaking was always like this regardless of whom she was speaking with.

"If I'm not an ordinary gardener, then who am I? You impudent punk. I must go report to the city lord and chase you out ..." This seemingly impolite expression and tone of Ling Lan instantly drove the gardener to anger.

Hearing this, Ling Lan's eyebrows lifted and the corner of her lips twitched up slightly. "Aren't you the city lord, Elder?" This expression of Ling Lan's was blatant mockery in the gardener's eyes. It seemed to be saying — was there really any point in this idiotic charade?

The gardener's expression instantly turned ugly as rage welled in his heart. Hells, this punk was truly too arrogant! Actually daring to laugh and mock me; not at all knowing how to respect his elders ... and so, his impression of Ling Lan dropped straight from neutral to a negative value.

Poor Ling Lan had long become accustomed to sporting this frozen face of hers. In fact, that little tilt of her lips had been forcefully squeezed out by Ling Lan in hopes of improving the city lord's impression of her. She was hoping that this would prompt the city lord to swiftly assign her a mission, one that was not too hard. However, this effort of hers was destined to go to waste. Sometimes, the best intentions could in fact lead to even worse outcomes ... just as it was with the current Ling Lan.

The gardener did not seem to want to give Ling Lan a mission. Even though Ling Lan had already uncovered his true identity, he still pretended he had heard nothing. He simply asked Ling Lan to leave the garden so she would not disturb his work.

1. 千奇百怪: Literally 'thousand strange hundred weird', so 'super super weird'. :p

2. T/C: Good, Ling Lan, always look underneath the underneath.

3. Remember, Mecha World is a game.

4. 火眼金睛: This phrase has been explained before in chapter 289, though altered more there to suit the context. Look up the chapter again if you want a refresher. (Hint: Sun Wukong)

Chapter 309 - SSS-Rank!

Out of options, Ling Lan could only say outright, "City Lord Luo Yixuan, I am here to receive a clan-formation mission. Let's not beat around the bush anymore and stop wasting each other's time."

Hearing Ling Lan call out his name directly, the city lord Luo Yixuan knew for sure that his identity had been seen through by the other. Because to the general outside world, his information was only listed as the city lord of Grandsweep City; his full name would not be displayed. It was very likely that the other had found some other clue to his identity from some other source. This also made it so that he could not continue to hold back from giving out the clan-formation mission.

Yet he did not want to make things so easy for this arrogant and impolite punk. An idea struck him and he instantly brought out a large spin wheel and said coldly, "I can give you a mission if you want, but whether or not you can actually receive one will all depend on your luck."

Ling Lan looked at that familiar large spin wheel once more, but this time, its segments were not marked with various mecha but with various mission options for forming a clan. More than half of the segments were labelled with the word 'failure' outright — she could just tell that this was the city lord Luo Yixuan's doing. She thought back on the two times she had spun a rabbit mecha and could not help but cringe inside. What if her spinning luck was bad here ...

Ling Lan was not really worried about the failures, because if she received a 'failure', she could just wait till a week later to try and receive a mission again. She glanced briefly at that terrifying SSS-rank mission on one of the segments in the spin wheel and could not help but gulp silently. Hells, if her spin landed on that, it would definitely be even more tragic than getting a 'failure'. As far as she knew, no one had ever completed an SSS-rank mission up till now ... she did not want to spend her entire life struggling with this mission.

"What? If you're afraid, you can just choose to give up directly and just come again next week," said the city lord Luo Yixuan coldly, arms folded across his chest.

Damm*t, her luck could not be that bad all the time! Ling Lan would never choose to give up voluntarily; she decisively pressed down on the handle of the large spin wheel. The spin wheel began to spin rapidly — Ling Lan pressed her lips tightly together, praying in her heart for the SSS-rank mission to stay away ... and the large spin wheel finally stopped.

Ling Lan first reflex was to stare down at her own hand. Her hand was obviously so white and soft ... why was her hand-luck so black then?! She even began to curse herself — why did she even think about the SSS-rank mission while the wheel had been spinning? Didn't she know how the more she didn't want something, the more likely it was to come?

Ling Lan had no tears even though she felt like crying. She could not help but sigh loudly at the skies. Reality proved that she was natural enemies with large spin wheels — in the end, the needle firmly pointed at a mission of SSS-rank. Ling Lan's first thought was whether she should just choose to give up and come again next week.

However, before Ling Lan could decide, the city lord, who had been equally stunned by the results, very quickly came to himself. Chortling sinisterly, he withdrew a token from a pocket and threw it into Ling Lan's lap, and then ... he immediately ran away.

Amidst the schadenfreude-filled laughter of the city lord which had yet to fade, Ling Lan stared speechlessly down at the mission token in her hands, a green vein spasming uncontrollably at her temple ... no matter how much the city lord did not like her, he still could not be so irresponsible as to just dump the mission token on her and leave! At the very least he should give her a mission introduction and offer some useful tips or suggestions ... what an extremely irresponsible NPC! Ling Lan decided that she would definitely submit a complaint about this city lord of Grandsweep City. An NPC just could not be that shameless.

With no other recourse, Ling Lan could only try to get more information from the token in her hands. She had just straightened the token when a notification popped up on a virtual screen before her.

"Clan-formation mission, mission ranking: SSS-rank. Mission content: A month ago, Fleet Swift Dragon, which is stationed at the Nebula Boundary, sent over an extremely subtle S.O.S. As the message was too brief, the Federation military was unable to determine whether it was a mistake or a true request for assistance. Although headquarters sent a team over to investigate, they did not discover anything out of the ordinary. Despite everything looking normal, the Federation military is not completely convinced. They have decided to secretly send an unofficial civilian expedition to look around the Nebula Boundary to find out once and for all what the S.O.S. was about. Upon completion of the mission, the Federation shall convey the official status of battle clan on the expedition team. The team will from then on be granted the same rights and benefits as military troops of the same rank ..."

"As expected of an SSS-rank mission. How troublesome." Reading the mission introduction, Ling Lan's mood became very horrible. This mission was not easy. One, the people they were supposed to contact were unclear. Two, the situation at the Nebula Boundary was unclear. Three, as a civilian expedition party, entering a location controlled by the Federation military ... that was definitely seeking death. Any random person within a trained fleet would be able to drown their entire expedition team with just a mouthful of spit.

Moreover, how they could covertly get to the Nebula Boundary was also an extremely difficult matter. In short, this mission was already extremely tricky from the very beginning, and the further they progressed, the harder things would be. Also, Ling Lan did not believe that military headquarters would really just send them, this one team. It was highly likely that while they were acting, the military would also send another investigative team to secretly sneak into the Nebula Boundary to investigate. At the bottom of it all, they were just the diversionary lure to draw away the guard troops of the Nebula Boundary.

"Perhaps, giving up would be better for us." Ling Lan felt that this mission was absolutely impossible at the level of her current party.

Ling Lan was not someone who was blindly confident. When the difficulty of a mission was truly worlds apart from her team's capabilities, Ling Lan would rationally choose to give up. She did not want to lead her companions into danger recklessly. Even though dying in the game would not lead to true death, Ling Lan was worried that this would instil the habit of risk-taking within herself. This character trait was undesirable as it could very well hurt everyone in the real world. Ling Lan was constantly on guard against it.

Having come to a decision, Ling Lan instantly threw the token onto the ground without any hesitation. In Mecha World, whether it was equipment, resources, medical agents, or materials, as long as it was dumped somewhere, the system would wipe it away with a refresh when time ran out. The same applied to mission tokens. As long as one chose to cast it aside, the mainframe would judge it as a mission failure ... then, she would be able to come back one week later and accept a new mission. Of course, after failing, the one who accepted the mission would have to pay some price; Ling Lan felt that this was still much more worth it than recklessly risking their lives.

However, what happened next proved that Ling Lan's internal abacus was inaccurate. When Ling Lan chose to discard the token, the system actually notified her that the mission was already bound to her and could not be discarded ... in other words, the mission she had received was a death command that could not be refused.

Seeing this notification, Ling Lan could not help but show a middle finger to the virtual screen. D*mmit, mainframe, you're just too shameless!

However, since this was already done, Ling Lan did not waste time panicking or despairing. She decided to go back and discuss with her companions how they wanted to complete this mission.

Ling Lan very quickly returned from whence she came and was transported back to the gates of the city lord's manor. Back outside the manor, Ling Lan once again reappeared in her intermediate mecha. Seeing their boss reappear, Qi Long and the others asked Ling Lan excitedly whether she had received a mission.

Ling Lan did not reply, instead asking them to move to a quieter location first. Only then did she share the details of the mission with them. When the others saw the contents of the mission, they instantly fell silent.

Ling Lan smiled wryly. It looked like this mission had scared her companions. She was just about to speak up and explain when Qi Long could be heard to roar excitedly, "Boss, you are just too awesome! Actually obtaining an SSS-rank mission that has not appeared in over several hundred years. I really just need to follow boss and there will be crazy awesome things to do ..."

"Yeah! I can't believe that there's something so exciting to do again so soon!" Xie Yi was just as excited.

"I had just been thinking that Boss would likely bring us an extremely high-level mission. Who would have expected Boss to dish out an SSS-rank mission just like that? My guts are still no match for Boss's," sighed Han Jijyun.

Han Jijyun had always set figuring out Ling Lan's thoughts as his highest goal. However, reality proved that he had still failed this time. Boss was even more savage than he had imagined ... but this was their boss! Forever doing things others would not dare to do. Han Jijyun could not know that this mission was not something Ling Lan had asked for on her own initiative, but was rather something that had been forcefully thrown upon Ling Lan.

"In any case, whatever Boss decides to do, I'll do." Luo Lang had no opinion whatsoever on this; he had long decided to follow his boss faithfully.

"If it's a mission of this level, the resources I prepared previously will be lacking considerably. I'll need to go supplement them as soon as possible." At this moment, Lin Zhong-qing was already thinking about how he could compensate for the ranking of the mission. He had no objections at all on accepting this mission.

Ling Lan stared at this group of audacious people and sweatdropped. Fine, she had forgotten that not many of her companions were normal. Earlier when she had thought they had been scared stiff, her mind must have short-circuited for a moment to even consider it.

Ling Lan turned her head to look at the other three silent people, thinking that these three at least must be shocked ... after all, those abnormal people like her companions should still be the minority.

And so Ling Lan addressed [No Mecha Unrepaired], saying, "[No Mecha Unrepaired], the mission this time is unexpectedly difficult. You can reconsider your invitation to join this battle clan if you would like." [No Mecha Unrepaired] was after all not that close with them. If by any chance they did not manage to complete the mission, Ling Lan did not want to drag [No Mecha Unrepaired] down with them.

"No, I want to join the battle clan, and I also want to follow you all for the mission ..." At Ling Lan's words, [No Mecha Unrepaired] quickly responded emphatically, "I was just moved earlier that I actually have the chance to participate in an SSS-rank mission. This is just too unbelievable." [No Mecha Unrepaired]'s voice actually contained a trace of dreaminess.

"An SSS-rank mission that one might only see once in several hundred years ... there is indeed a need to see this. Besides, I believe you all will need my treatment ability even more." [Priceless Kinship] deviated from his usual indifference, becoming unbelievably enthusiastic. It was clear to see how much attraction the SSS-rank mission held for him as well.

The corners of Ling Lan's lips could not help but twitch. Hells, what kind of members were these whom she had taken in?! Each even more abnormal than the one before, actually so eager to attempt a mission normal people would never dare to touch ... She could not help but look towards [Self-Defined Destiny]; her leopard should be a normal person, right?

Li Lanfeng rubbed his jaw and asked with clear interest, "Say, do you all think that by completing this mission, the reward we receive will also be of a legendary level?"

"Legendary level?" Everyone sucked in a sharp breath ... within the mecha comms channel, Ling Lan could practically hear the endless dripping sounds of drooling.

Ling Lan stared up into the sky, speechless. She really could not expect much of her team members. As members of a team led by an abnormal person (a freak), they really could never be normal either ...

Chapter 310 - Planet X192!

In Mecha World, for every ten major cities, there would be a sky metropolis connecting these ten major cities. As its name suggests, the sky metropolises existed in the sky. However, these sky metropolises were not for human inhabitation; they merely functioned as spaceports.

Every day, there would be massive numbers of spacecrafts, military vessels, and cargo ships passing through these metropolises, departing from them or merely stopping by. Many lone wolves, expedition parties, and battle clans which needed to travel to distant lands for their missions would need to enter the sky metropolises to hitch a ride on a starship or some cargo ship. However, though battle clans could freely choose between military vessels and common ships, regular lone wolves and commoner expeditions could only ride civilian spacecrafts.

This was another reason why battle clans were so popular in Mecha World. After all, in Mecha World, 70% of ships were military vessels of the Federation. Furthermore, some military-governed areas could only be accessed by military vessels — general civilian spacecrafts could not even approach. Oftentimes, the spots with the greatest profits were all located in those areas ...

For instance, the base camp at the Nebula Boundary where the Swift Dragon Fleet was stationed was an area where only military vessels were permitted to enter. This was also why they would find it troublesome — not yet having the right to board military vessels, they would never be able to get close to their destination by using civilian ships alone.

In any case, today, the initially already extremely bustling sky metropolis was even busier than ever. This was because the once-a-season planetary reclamation activity was about to commence officially, and this was also the one and only time when ordinary lone wolves and commoner expedition teams could board military vessels.

Planetary reclamation was an official activity organised by the Federation government. They would release some newly discovered wild and unexplored planets to the public, allowing civilian individuals or groups to go explore and cultivate the land. If they discovered any resources beneficial to the Federation or any new biological organisms, the Federation would reward them with countless credits.

Many troubled lone wolves or expedition teams that were not doing well financially had been able to revive due to this activity, becoming famous people or renowned expedition teams in their own right. Therefore, this planetary reclamation activity had become the premier shortcut for ordinary lone wolves or expedition teams to fame and fortune.

"They only see the glory of success but fail to see the consequences of failure. Tell me, these individuals or parties who go on this exploration — how many of them return alive?" As the person in charge of ferrying these adventurers this time, a commanding officer could not help but sigh as he looked at the spirited civilian adventurers down below controlling their mecha to board the starship from the screen of his mainship.

"This is their own choice. Perhaps this failure will let them understand what it means to act within one's means," responded an adjutant coldly from beside the commanding officer. The adjutant did not think highly of these untrained civilian adventurers. If this were not an assignment, he would never have willingly made contact with these trash.

"Oh you. You should not have these kinds of thoughts. Have you never heard the old saying of 'prodigies sprouting from the civilian world'?" said the commander with a laugh, shaking his head.

"That saying has long become obsolete. With the perfected system of the Federation now, any prodigies would have long been excavated for cultivation. Would they have been able to remain hidden until now?" said the adjutant scornfully. These trash which could not even form proper battle clans could only remain mediocre all their lives. "The only thing that perplexes me is why we have to come to this virtual Mecha World to do this mission. It's seriously a complete waste of our time."

At his adjutant's words, the smile on the commander's face vanished. Grimly, he said, "Because the Federation mainframe has sent an emergency notification to us. At the Nebula Boundary of Mecha World, some strange phenomena has occurred. Although it has tried its best to eliminate the problem, it has failed, and it simply cannot discover the reason for its failure."

The adjutant's expression changed. "Could it be that our Federation mainframe has been invaded by an enemy nation's virus?"

The commander nodded solemnly. "Highly possible. This is also why we have secretly entered Mecha World to replace these NPCs under the mainframe's arrangement. You should know that once the Federation mainframe is successfully corrupted by a virus, the entire order of the Federation will utterly collapse. At that time, we will be like deshelled turtles, helpless on the chopping block."

"Are we enough to handle this?" The adjutant was rather concerned. After all, he was not a hacker who was proficient on this front — he really had no certainty in handling everything in the virtual world.

"Don't worry. We are not the only ones who have come. There's still those top-class hackers of the military. Headquarters has even sent out some of those top-level spectres this time ..." Aggression flashed across the commander's face. "Thinking to destroy our mainframe, don't they even dare think they will live to tell the tale."

The adjutant could not help but clench his fists. As someone on the verge of breaking through the barrier of ace to advance to imperial operator, this was undoubtedly a great chance for him. He believed that if this was truly an attack by an enemy, they would certainly have top-class operators as escort. Perhaps this was why headquarters had sent a prodigy like him on the verge of a breakthrough here right at this moment.

'Ling Xiao, I will definitely become a legendary figure surpassing you!' Ambition flared in the adjutant's eyes for a brief instant. That god-class operator General Ling Xiao who had broken records multiple times had completely trodden other prodigies under his feet. No matter how outstanding they were, in comparison to his records, they were all not even worth a mention. But all of that was in the past now — if he could advance successfully this year, he would break Ling Xiao's record of being the youngest ever to become an imperial operator ...

At this thought, the adjutant could not help but shiver in excitement. He would definitely pull Ling Xiao down from his godly pedestal!

Among the crowd of mecha registering to board a starship was Ling Lan's party. Around them were all advanced mecha which had been modified, and there were even quite a few formidable special-class mecha. In contrast, their team appeared extremely slapdash. Qi Long and the other four of Ling Lan's original team, Li Lanfeng, and Li Shiyu were all using standard Federation mecha, while [No Mecha Unrepaired] and Ling Lan were using intermediate mecha which were one level below the others. Even though [No Mecha Unrepaired]'s mecha had obviously been modified quite a bit, no matter how well it was modified, it was still nothing before an advanced mecha.

The level difference between mecha was not something which could be bridged with modification ... Of course, this was only referring to ordinary modifications. This may not necessarily be true of a mecha which had been modified by a master-level mechanic.

That said, no one would believe that an ordinary expedition team whose advanced mecha were still just standard mecha would have intermediate mecha modified by a master-level mechanic ...

"Combat, it's our turn." Ling Lan saw that it was finally their turn and quickly urged Qi Long on their party comms to go up and register. As her present mecha was still an intermediate mecha, she was really rather unsuited to be the party leader.

"Got it, Boss!" Receiving his boss's reminder, Qi Long, who had been in a constant state of excitement, finally scrambled over to register. All this had been arranged beforehand — from the moment they set off on the mission, the public leader had been Qi Long.

As Qi Long was registering, Han Jijyun finally voiced his doubts, "Boss, why won't you let us help you redeem an advanced mecha?"

A lower mecha operator could of course pilot a more advanced mecha, but they would not be able to draw out the full power of the mecha and may even be unable to use it for long periods of time. This was because the more advanced a mecha was, the higher the demands it would place on the operator's physical constitution and stamina. Some people have tried using advanced mecha as intermediate mecha warriors — 10 minutes later, they would be utterly drained and no longer able to continue piloting the mecha. This stark truth dispelled all thoughts of any operator thinking to take a shortcut; they all practised honestly to advance.

However, Han Jijyun and the others believed that with their boss's capabilities, even if he piloted a mecha at a higher level, he would be able to play around with the advanced mecha like it were his own arms. Thinking back on how terrifying Ling Lan's control skills were that year back then, after so many years, his skills could only have gotten better.

"Because, this is more convenient for my mobility. No one will pay attention to an intermediate mecha. Besides, as far as I know, boarding details must match actual ranking, otherwise the mainframe will refuse boarding," explained Ling Lan calmly. She was too embarrassed to admit that she already had a secret weapon, although this secret weapon was not something she really wanted ...

Han Jijyun was just about to say something when he heard Qi Long yelling in the comms channel, "GO, GO, GO~" It turned out he had finished registering and was now urging them to get on the military vessel.

Seeing this, Ling Lan said, "Let's board the ship." That said, she was the first to follow Qi Long to walk towards the boarding entrance of the military vessel. As these were all transport ships, after entering through the entrance, they saw an extremely large empty space. Right then, there were already quite a few mecha inside. They followed the order they entered to walk over to their exclusive secured seats.

In order to ensure the stability of the mecha during transport, the hold of transport ships were all equipped with this type of mecha-specific secured seats. Once a mecha was buckled in, the mecha would not be able to move. Other than the transport ship activating the release of the secured seats, the mecha could only try to break free by breaking the seat with brute strength.

Ling Lan's team walked over to their secured seats in an orderly manner, and then they all settled in to rest respectively. This so-called rest just meant they were sleeping in their respective cockpits. Once the ship left the spaceport, no one would be allowed to log off until they arrived at the next save point.

Fortunately, this journey was not a very long one; it only took one night. Besides, Ling Lan and the others had already made the proper preparations. All of them had requested several days' leave from their instructors, and their virtual login pods were also properly filled with energy replenishing fluid, which should be enough to sustain them till they arrived at the new save point.

This time, the destination the Federation had organised for the planetary reclamation activity was planet X192, which was not too far away from the Nebula Boundary. Ling Lan was aiming to use the planet X192 as their springboard, so they would have the chance to enter the stationed camp grounds of the Swift Dragon Fleet at the Nebula Boundary.

Right then, they did not know that a bunch of people from the Federation military were also planning on doing the exact same thing.

The night passed in silence. The transport fleet very quickly arrived at the Nebula Boundary and began its descent towards planet X192.

At the same time, relevant information on planet X192 was announced on the public channel of Mecha World:

Planet X192; Gravity 29.7, Strength of Magnetic Field 15e-18 tesla. Temperature: 56 1 . Normal Wind Strength level 12; Extreme Wind Strength level 19. Atmospheric Elements: Carbon Dioxide 87%, Hydrogen 3%, Chlorine 8%, Others 2% ...

"F*ck, is there really life on this planet?" Listening to these details that were not at all suitable for human life, Qi Long asked his companions as he adjusted the settings of his mecha to accommodate for planet X192.

1. No unit given, so I can't tell whether this is in Celsius or Fahrenheit. Probably Celsius considering the following paragraph.

Chapter 311 - Abandon?

"So what if it's unsuitable for life? Reclamation is not for the sake of seeking lifeforms, but to find minerals and resources," said Han Jijyun coldly in response to Qi Long's question. He felt that this question of Qi Long's was really just too silly.

"Alert. The starship shall enter the atmospheric layer in 10 seconds. Please ensure all anti-shock measures are in place, please ensure all anti-shock measures are in place ..." In the public comms of the mecha, the voice of the starship's JMC rang out.

At the end of the 10 second countdown, all of the mecha operators in the transport hold could feel an intense quaking which lasted for over 10 seconds before the starship gradually stabilised again. At this time, all the mecha operators knew that they should have already passed through the atmospheric layer of X192 and were now truly within the airspace of the planet.

Sure enough, the JMC's voice once again rang out in the public comms. This time, it was to notify them that in 1 minute and 30 seconds, the starship would officially land on the ground of planet X192.

One minute and thirty seconds was not a very short period of time; it was enough for the mecha operators to make all necessary preparations for landing. Even so, when the countdown hit zero and the starship landed heavily on the planet's surface, the intense vibrations still caused many mecha operators to feel their Qi and blood roil in their chests. Quite a few of the mecha operators did not manage to regain their equilibrium till several beats later.

Ling Lan's original party of six did not react in any way. Under Ling Lan's tutelage, even the one with the weakest physical constitution, Han Jijyun, was able to easily withstand the impact. Well aware of her companions' conditions, Ling Lan skipped over them to ask [No Mecha Unrepaired], [Priceless Kinship], and [Self-Defined Destiny] how they were holding up.

[Priceless Kinship] did not delay, instantly responding to say that he had no problem at all. Stopping to think about it, Ling Lan understood instantly. Li Shiyu's body could not be that weak ... he was the dux of the Military Medical Research specialization! Exceedingly intelligent, he would never allow his own body to be all that weak.

[No Mecha Unrepaired] was the second to reply. Just as Ling Lan predicted, he felt somewhat uncomfortable. However, after swallowing a tube of concentrated recovery fluid, he felt much better.

The final one to answer was [Self-Defined Destiny]. Even though he said that everything was fine, what kind of ears did Ling Lan have? She could clearly hear that the other's breath was rather short — the violent vibrations earlier must have given [Self-Defined Destiny] some trouble despite him saying otherwise.

This made Ling Lan frown slightly. She had only been mentally prepared regarding the slightly weaker constitution of [No Mecha Unrepaired]. After all, [No Mecha Unrepaired] was a support type researcher — it was natural for him to have some foundational difference from specialized mecha operators like them. Thus, for [No Mecha Unrepaired] to falter in situations like this was normal. However, things were different with [Self-Defined Destiny]. [Self-Defined Destiny] was a specialized mecha operator too — this was something the other had told her personally and she believed that the leopard would not lie to her. Besides, his control skills were more than sufficient to make him a specialized mecha operator.

She would never, ever have considered that the leopard, who should have an amazing constitution based on her impression of him, would actually have a constitution roughly similar to that of [No Mecha Unrepaired]. This meant that the other's strength and stamina would not support drawn-out battle ...

This forced Ling Lan to ponder calmly — could her old friend the leopard really become a permanent member of her clan? Although Ling Lan had gotten along very well with the leopard, and she also greatly cherished the rapport between them, this did not mean that she would allow the other to drag down her entire clan. She needed to think about the futures of these companions who had grown up alongside her.

It had to be said that in Ling Lan's heart, the leopard was still not as important as her companions. For her companions, she could abandon her leopard.

Sensing his boss's thoughts, Little Four hurriedly explained, "Boss, because the spectre's spiritual power is too strong, that is why the damage to his body is great. It's just like Boss in your previous world. Of course, with the gene agents, this world now has considerably improved on this front, but it still cannot fully cure the problem of the weakened constitution."

Little Four was rather fond of this spectre with abilities similar to his. At the very least, the other gave him a sense of kinship, which was why he decided to speak up for [Self-Defined Destiny]. "Honestly, spectres should not be able to operate mecha. The fact that [Self-Defined Destiny] can do this is already extremely outstanding. Furthermore, having a spectre around is also very advantageous to the clan. Spectres are very sensitive to the presence of other spectres; he will be able to protect the others in the clan during critical moments."

"Won't you be able to protect everyone?" Although Little Four's words moved Ling Lan a little, the problem of the leopard's constitution still made her feel extremely conflicted.

"Of course I can, but Boss, there will always be times when you're alone, or when the team splits up to act. At those times, having an additional spectre will increase the safety rates for everyone on the team no matter how things are arranged," replied Little Four calmly. He did not believe that his boss would trivialize her clan members' safety.

As expected, Ling Lan paused after hearing what Little Four had to say.

"Besides, it's not like the other's weak constitution is unchangeable." Little Four prepared his finishing move.

"Oh?" Ling Lan was extremely interested. If the problem of the leopard's constitution could be resolved, she naturally did not want to abandon the leopard. After all, it was so rare to find a friend with such good rapport. Ling Lan treated Qi Long and her other childhood companions as followers and sons to be raised, while the leopard was the very first one to give her the feeling of having a friend. As such, Ling Lan treasured him greatly.

"Boss, have you forgotten how your body recovered? As long as there are gene agents, once I've modified them, the other will be able to absorb them endlessly. Combine that with your Qi exercises and the foundational physical skills of the learning space, and by applying all three methods simultaneously, this problem should be fixed in two to three years." Little Four reminded Ling Lan. How she had resolved her own latent issues would be how the other could resolve his own latent issues.

"I'll have to think about this." Ling Lan glanced at [Self-Defined Destiny] and cut short the topic. This was because all the mecha had already begun to leave their secured seats and were now lining up to walk out of the hold's door. There was one other reason why Ling Lan did not want to make a decision just yet. She wanted to first see if the leopard could actually gain her companions' acknowledgement. If her companions truly accepted him, she would willingly help her leopard solve this problem.

Everything would still depend on how the leopard performed in future! Ling Lan sighed internally and then led her party members to walk out of the hold doors.

Right then, Li Lanfeng had no idea that he had almost been given three strikes 1 by his rabbit. As soon as he could, he downed some restorative agent, and very soon, his body had recovered. He quickly followed the other members of his party forward, rather frustrated with himself deep inside. He had not expected all the members of the rabbit's party to have such sturdy constitutions. Of all the members, his constitution actually ranked at the very bottom ... he silently clenched his fists tight, deciding that he would increase his nightly basic training by threefold. He definitely would not disgrace his rabbit.

The moment they stepped out of the starship transport's hold, a wave of heat swept over them. Even though the temperature within their mecha cockpits had already been adjusted lower, they could still feel the difference from the temperatures of an inhabitable 1 planet. On the respective screens of all the mecha in Ling Lan's party, an endless desert came into view. It was a swirling sheet of white with not a single speck of any other colour. After only looking at the scene for several seconds, they could already feel their eyes vaguely starting to prickle in pain.

"Adjust the temperature of your cockpit. Lower it by 10 degrees. And set your visuals to infrared mode." Just when everyone was stunned, Ling Lan's voice rang out in their party comms.

Used to obeying Ling Lan's commands, Qi Long and the others quickly made the adjustments as instructed. Once they had adjusted the initial internal temperature of 25 degrees down to 15, they felt all the heat which had penetrated the cockpit completely wiped away. Their cockpits once again returned to regular levels of comfort. Meanwhile, changing their screen displays to infrared mode eased the strain on their eyes. They no longer felt as if they were staring into a blizzard of white, and their eyes stopped hurting.

Li Lanfeng had the utmost faith in his rabbit, so he did not think much of the other's immensely accurate judgment. However, Li Shiyu and [No Mecha Unrepaired] could not help but feel a jolt go through their hearts. Their leader must know everything about mecha like the back of his hands; otherwise, he would not have been able to make such accurate and precise judgments in a split second. [No Mecha Unrepaired] found his respect for Ling Lan deepening, while Li Shiyu too gradually began to acknowledge this Boss Lan who he had never thought well of, who liked to turn common sense on its head.

When they truly walked out onto the planet, they were shocked by the scene before their eyes. Those mecha that had walked out before them were currently struggling against the sands of the area. Many mecha had sunk into the sandy ground, while even more had no choice but to power up their engines to fly into the air and move forwards that way.

"Warning. Do not use your engines for a long time. The temperature and atmospheric elements here will cause great damage to your engines." In the public comms channel, the JMC's anxious voice rang out once more in warning.

He had barely finished speaking when in the skies not too far away, a loud boom rang out as a mecha's engine abruptly exploded. The strength of the explosion instantly sent the mecha careening to the ground. The entire mecha crashed into the sand and its massive body became completely buried within it. If not for the help of his party members, he would not have been able to resolve this dire situation on his own — all that would have awaited him was death.

"Godd*mn, what a dangerous planet." Witnessing this scene, Xie Yi could not help but exclaim in the party comms. However, he was only exclaiming for the sake of exclaiming; he would not shrink back in fear because of this.

"Let us go." Ling Lan's voice had yet to fade when she had already controlled her mecha to begin striding onto this patch of desert. But then, [Self-Defined Destiny] suddenly shouted, "Wait a moment!"

"Hm?" Ling Lan controlled her mecha to dip her head at him, signalling for [Self-Defined Destiny] to explain why he had stopped her.

"I think that it's better to first send someone to test things out," said Li Lanfeng with a smile, "I volunteer myself. As a new member, I hope everyone can give me a chance to perform." Li Lanfeng's words made the initially rather tense atmosphere of the team dissipate instantly. Qi Long even began to laugh uproariously, while there were several other soft giggles and chuckles that were almost inaudible — god knows who was laughing so secretly.

The corners of Ling Lan's lips quirked up; she was extremely in favour of the leopard's behaviour, so she said, "Alright, go." Ling Lan hoped the leopard would be accepted by her companions; thus, she naturally indicated her support of the leopard's request without any hesitation.

1. 三振出局: Literally 'three strikes knockout'. A reference to baseball where a batter is out after accumulating three strikes. Here, it is in reference to how Li Lanfeng was almost cast aside by his rabbit.

2. Fun fact: 'inhabitable' and 'habitable' mean the exact same thing! So, don't get confused, people. The author is saying here that the temperature of planet X19 is noticeably different from a planet people can live on.