Chapter 218 - 486 - 491

Chapter 486 - The Mirage City Under the Sea!

Little Four's forehead was hurt from the flick. He became more afraid and sobbed. "Boss, just now, I almost became unable to see you again."

Little Four's words dumbfounded Ling Lan. She waited for Little Four's explanation, but he only held onto her thigh and didn't say any more.

Sensing Little Four's fear, Ling Lan softly caressed his hair and said, "Little Four, you have to remember that if you suddenly vanish one day, I will definitely find you. Definitely!"

Ling Lan's serious tone pacified Little Four's fearful heart. Little Four's emotions slowly calmed down. He nodded and answered softly, "Okay, I believe you Boss!"

After she caressed Little Four's head for a little longer and felt that his emotions were returning to normal, Ling Lan instantly pushed him away and left her mindspace in a flash. She rejoiced that all of this had happened in her mindspace. No matter how many things happened in her mindspace, only one or two minutes would have passed in the outside world.

Little Four instantly felt hurt after seeing the empty mindspace. Wah wah wah, this little brother was definitely brought up by the step-mom, otherwise Boss wouldn't have tossed him aside so heartlessly.

After leaving the mindspace, Ling Lan immediately told everyone what she had discovered. "Logically, the always sunny Yang side of the sea rarely sees rainfall, so its humidity should be lower than the Yin side of the sea. However, as luck would have it, the humidity is higher than the humidity of the location where we had dropped from…"

Those who could participate in the mecha tournament were all talented and intelligent people. They knew that the humidity of rainy places was definitely higher than that of sunny areas. Qiao Ting nodded and said, "Regarding this point, it indeed doesn't make sense."

"Is it possible that before we dropped down, a thunderstorm had just occurred in this area?" Someone brought up a very plausible situation that could have happened.

Everyone looked at Ling Lan in unplanned unison, waiting for her answer.

"Yes, of course, there is that possibility. In order to see if that is true or not, I have decided to wait for half an hour," Ling Lan spoke out her decision. "Looking at the current intensity of the sun, the humidity may decrease in half an hour. This way, just like what that team member said earlier, it would be very possible that a thunderstorm had passed before we arrived and the humidity in the air had not dissipated completely. However, if the humidity remains the same and doesn't decrease, then this sea…"

"This sea could be a trap." Qiao Ting understood the meaning behind Ling Lan's words and immediately said, "I agree to wait!"

"I also agree!"

"Agreed!"

…

All the team leaders had agreed to wait for half an hour. According to the map, if everything went according to plan, the Yang side of the sea was half an hour away from their headquarters' location. That was why they had 30 minutes to waste.

Just like that, all the members of the First Men's Military Academy silently waited and 30 minutes quickly passed by. Many people were monitoring the humidity levels and they found that the humidity in the air did not decrease during this time, but slowly increased instead.

Qiao Ting saw this situation as well. He raised his head and looked at the blazing sun that was almost above his head. His said worriedly, "What is happening? Why did a situation like this occur?"

Ling Lan didn't answer, but instead, she asked him, "Captain Qiao, I'm not sure if you've heard of The mirage city under the sea?"

Ling Lan's words stunned everyone present. The Mirage City Under the Sea, or Mirage City for short, was a natural phenomenon that resulted from the refraction of light beams, a mirage created from the light from objects of the ancient Earth refracting light through the atmosphere.

Ever since the resources on ancient Earth were all used up and ultimately became a barren planet, they could only gain knowledge of this mysterious phenomenon through books. They had not witnessed the real thing before, which made them forget about it, and so they would hardly ever think towards this idea. Mirage City was way too far away in the past to them.

"You're saying that the Yang side of the sea is possibly fake and is like a Mirage City?" Qiao Ting's face was full of surprise. Something that had disappeared from ancient times had somehow reappeared on this unknown planet? Could it be true?

"Yes, that's the only way to explain it." Ling Lan was a 21st century Earthling in her past life, although she could only stay in the hospital and not go outside because of her body. However, as someone who enjoyed surfing the Internet and finding out everything about Earth, Ling Lan yearned to witness the phenomenon of Mirage City with her own eyes. That was why when Ling Lan saw that the data was not correlating to what she was seeing, the first thing she thought to was the Mirage City.

"Then where is the real Yang side of the sea?" asked someone who was confused.

Ling Lan turned to look behind her. Right then, she could still see that it was hazy and cloudy. She pointed towards that direction and said, "My guess is that this Mirage City is like a reflection of a mirror. It is very likely that the real side lies before it."

Qiao Ting's eyes suddenly lit up and he said, "You're saying that the Yin and Yang side of the sea that we see are all fake. They are all Mirage Cities, like mirrors reflecting each other. So the area where we thought was the Yin side of the sea is the real Yang side of the sea?"

"What I guessed is as you say. Whether that's the case or not, we will have to return to the original location to know. If we get closer to the Yin side of the sea and the humidity decreases, then my guess would be correct," Ling Lan answered.

The team members heard the conversation between the captains. Ling Lan's speculations made them very confused, but this could not stop the admiration they felt towards Ling Lan. God, how much must Captain Ling know to be able to speculate and think of a legend like the Mirage City phenomenon?

Li Lanfeng and Han Jijyun were beside Ling Lan. After hearing Ling Lan's conjecture, they felt both proud and embarrassed. They were proud because of the remarkable person before them was the boss that was leading them forward. The stronger and more aberrant their boss was, the more they found it an honor. However, they could not refrain from feeling embarrassed. It should be known that this job should have been done by them, as it was the responsibility of strategists, yet in this case, they had let their boss do all the work.

Both of them felt a sense of crisis. At this rate, their positions as strategists wouldn't be guaranteed anymore. The two of them couldn't help but smile weakly in their mind. With an aberrant captain who was not lacking in mental and physical strength, there was a lot of pressure on those who, like themselves, used their brains.

Ling Lan's conjectures received everyone's approval. When Ling Lan gave the order to return to where they started, not only did no one resist, but some even jokingly said they wanted to go back to experience the accuracy of her hypothesis themselves.

In reality, Ling Lan guesses were on point for everything. The closer they moved towards the Yin side of the sea, the lower the humidity level became. With this, Ling became more certain of her judgment. She ordered all her team members without hesitation to closely follow their teammates who were in the front. She went head first into the white fog, which prevented one from even seeing their own hands.

Visibility in the fog was greatly lowered. In the event of dangers within the fog, Ling Lan and the others did not fly too fast. Every mecha operator was closely watching the teammates that were in front of them, not daring to lose focus. They were afraid that one mistake would make them lose sight of their teammate. When surrounded by fog, the most terrifying thing was to lose sight of one's teammates.

They flew for about two to three minutes when Ling Lan suddenly found that the fog that she could clearly see earlier, had suddenly cleared completely. Having now escaped the foggy area, Ling Lan saw that she was in the middle of the blazing sun. The strong sunlight shined on the mecha. Even Ling Lan, who was in the cockpit, could feel the warmth of the sun.

"Wow, this is the real Yang side of the sea!" The teammates who came out after her excitedly screamed upon seeing the sea with the sun shining brightly before them.

At that moment, Qiao Ting had also led his team out of the fog. He had been monitoring the humidity levels the entire time and when they had entered this area, the humidity had dropped again to a new low. It was just as Ling Lan had guessed—this was the real Yang side of the sea.

"We managed to find the right place… those other contestants from the other military academies who flew into the Mirage City in front of us… won't they be screwed?" Han Yu, who had been doubtful this whole time, also acknowledged Ling Lan's judgment. He thought about the cadets from the other military academies who went head first into the fake Yang side of the sea and instantly felt a sense of schadenfreude.

"Hopefully they will realize it soon; otherwise, if they reach land on the Yin side of the sea and then turn around, coming back will be impossible without at least 12 hours." Mu Shaoyu looked at the map in his hands and sighed.

The landing point on the Yin side of the sea was located exactly opposite to the map of the battle royale. At this distance, even for ace operators, six hours wouldn't be enough for them to come back in time.

After seeing the sea on this side, Ling Lan's lip curled slightly. She gave herself a pat on the back for the accurate hypothesis. Despite her confident behavior, in reality, she had still been feeling somewhat anxious before seeing this outcome.

"All units assemble. Each team is to take a roll call. If all members are accounted for, then we will move forward at full speed." Ling Lan quickly gave a new order. All teams had counted their own team members and reported to Ling Lan. In the end, they made sure that there was no one missing from the group.

Now without worry, Ling Lan led all her team members to advance at maximum speed. After flying tirelessly for a little over an hour, they finally saw the shoreline of the Yang side of the sea. The cluster of mountain ranges worked people up and excited them, the reason being that the headquarters location which belonged to them, the Area G17, was situated on a mountain not far from the mountain ranges they were seeing.

Qiao Ting and the others saw the mountain ranges and instantly let out a sigh of relief. Going through that sort of long-distance flying in a seemingly endless sea would cause one to become greatly exhausted. Upon being able to see land, the group's spirits were lifted and they seemed to become slightly less tired.

Ling Lan and her group should be the first group to get close to this area. They flew over the mountain ranges, but didn't find any cadets from the other military academies. Very soon, they found the Area G17 that belonged to them and put the beacon that represented their headquarters in a random corner.

Right then, thousands of miles away, on the 5 by 7 meter humongous screen in the main security room of the mecha tournament's battle royale, the light of the Area G17, which was originally among the grayed out areas of the large map, lit up.

Chapter 487 - Let's Play Something Stimulating

The waiting referees suddenly grew excited. The main referee looked at the time on the communicator on his wrist, smiled and said, "The first to reach their base camp, using 1 hour and 59 minutes. The amount of time they took is pretty short, but unfortunately, they still didn't manage to beat the shortest time record."

Upon hearing that, one referee couldn't help but argue, "General Ling Xiao made a record of 1 hour and 37 minutes back then. That is already infinitely near the fastest theoretical speed. How can anyone be able to break this record?"

The main referee thought about it and believed it to be true. If someone really did break the shortest time record General Ling Xiao had created, then that would be a surprise. The main referee and the others didn't know at the time that if Ling Lan hadn't waited 30 minutes to make sure of her predictions, it was possible that Ling Lan's group could have beaten Ling Xiao's record and made a record of their own.

Tossing aside the small suspicions in his mind, the main referee turned his head and asked the referee in charge of monitoring signal transfers, "How long until we know which military academy is at G17?"

"The A.I. is now receiving the beacon's signal. It is at 90% right now. The answer will be known soon enough," the referee reported as he continued to watch the progress bar go up.

A "beep" sounded right as he finished speaking—the signal received had reached 100%. Following that, the Area G17 which had lit up showed a familiar academy emblem. "It's the First Men's Military Academy!"

"Holy sh*t, the First Men's Military Academy is pretty strong this year. Their score from before already left the other military academies behind by a large margin. As long as their performance in the battle royale isn't too bad, this year's first place should theirs. Heh heh heh, it's been almost 7 times, right? The first place that was far out of their reach for more than two decades should return to the First Men's Military Academy now," one referee exclaimed.

Right then, another referee seemed to have realized something and laughed out loud. Everyone looked towards him with surprised looks, not knowing what he was laughing about.

That referee quickly explained, "I just thought it was a coincidence that two decades ago, General Ling Xiao led the First Men's Military Academy and obtained the most glorious first place. Two decades have passed, and General Ling Xiao has come to visit the mecha tournament and as luck would have it, the First Men's Military Academy's performance is remarkable beyond comparison. Doesn't this mean that General Ling Xiao is the First Men's Military Academy's lady luck? If he's around then everything will go smoothly, right?"

These words that held a bit ridicule made everyone smile inside. However, it was just as what that referee had said—it was really a coincidence. After the tournament in which General Ling Xiao had made a glorious achievement, Ling Xiao didn't appear in the seven tournaments that followed. The performance of the First Men's Military Academy was always poor and they were pressured into second place for seven straight seasons by the Second Men's Military Academy. This time, however, General Ling Xiao came and from the start of the tournament, the First Men's Military Academy's performance was overwhelming and suppressed the other military academies. And now, they were also the first ones to reach their base camp location, giving themselves more time to organize the defenses of the camp. The future prospects of the First Men's Military Academy in the battle royale were looking good.

Right then, noises suddenly came from the outside and someone repeatedly exclaimed, "General Ling Xiao's here."

Everyone in the main monitoring room was very surprised. Although everyone knew General Ling Xiao would visit the main scene, everyone still believed that the busy General Ling Xiao would only come to watch in the later parts of the battle royale. They hadn't thought that General Ling Xiao would come when the tournament hadn't really started.

Soon, the people in the monitoring room saw General Ling Xiao, who was full of energy, coming in with a beautiful woman. They were none other than General Ling Xiao and his wife, Lan Luofeng.

The two's love story was always relished by others. Lan Luofeng used to be the person whom all the women in the federation were jealous of. Now that they had seen the actual person, many of the female officers who were present felt better. They kicked themselves for not being the woman who was standing beside General Ling Xiao.

Of course, there were many officers who came along with General Ling Xiao, such as lieutenant Qiu Yue, the first advisor of the 23rd Division, He Xuyang, other representatives from other divisions, and also the representative belonging to the Federation—the Vice President.

Everyone moved in front of the large screen with the help of the person in charge from the organizers. Ling Xiao saw the only area that was lit up and seeing the familiar school emblem, he smirked. He hadn't thought that his own daughter would have arrived at their headquarters location this quickly. He uncontrollably glanced at Qiu Yue, who stood beside him, with a hint of disdain in his expression.

Ling Xiao's glance made Qiu Yue scratch his nose awkwardly. On their way here, he had told Ling Xiao about how he tossed commander Ling Lan into the Yin Yang Sea. He had no choice but to do so, as he was worried that the First Men's Military Academy would not be able to see through the mysteries of the Yin Yang Sea, fail to discover the real path and get regrettably eliminated. That was why he had wanted to give Ling Xiao a heads up, in case he got mad at the end.

As for Ling Xiao, he was very satisfied with the performance of Ling Lan's group. On the side of First Men's Military Academy's cadets, once they arrived at the base camp, they began to get busy. Everyone split the work and cooperated, while Ling Lan specially called for the modification team. Led by Chang Xinyuan, they began to modify some of the lighter weapons. It was because of this group of people that Ling Lan had forgone exchanging for heavy weaponry at the beginning, choosing instead the light and easy to carry weapons. With these mechanics, their headquarters would not be lacking in weaponry.

Ling Lan didn't rest either. She asked Lin Zhong-qing to take out the light sources and handed 100 of them to Qiao Ting. Light sources were very useful in dark environments and could be used to illuminate areas. After Qiao Ting received the light sources, he quietly took his team and left.

According to the original plan, Qiao Ting's 24-man team was responsible for being the vanguard. They were to take over other areas, regardless of whether there were people there or not, and gain as many points as possible. On the other hand, the defense of the headquarters was the responsibility of Ling Lan, Han Yu, Mu Shaoyu and the other teams.

After seeing Qiao Ting's team off, Ling Lan decisively connected to Han Yu and Mu Shaoyu's comm-link. "Captain Mu, Captain Han, I need to talk to you guys. Please come over."

Upon hearing Ling Lan's summons, the two teams that were just patrolling and looking at the situation of the area quickly came over.

Seeing that Ling Lan had come out of her mecha, the two of them did the same as well. Ling Lan gave out two pieces of paper which she had prepared earlier, one to Mu Shaoyu and one to Han Yu.

After the two of them each took a piece of paper, their eyes showed a hint of confusion, not really understanding what it all meant.

"You guys can look at each other's," Ling Lan prompted them.

The two of them instantly had a thought and exchanged their pieces of paper. They simultaneously read the details of the piece of paper they were handed and saw that Mu Shaoyu's piece had G14 written on it, while Han Yu's piece had G20 written on it.

The two of them had now gained some understanding of the papers' meaning, but they were still slightly confused. They looked towards Ling Lan, waiting for her explanation.

Ling Lan opened the map in her hands and signaled the two to come closer. She pointed at the two areas that were between the Area G17 and a few others and said, "These areas are actually, as I remember, all uninhabited. I don't want our headquarters to be exposed in front of everyone. The two areas that I just gave you are very good places for providing us with cover…"

Ling Lan quietly explained her thoughts to Han Yu and Mu Shaoyu. The two of them nodded as they listened, their eyes lighting up increasingly. Ling Lan's arrangement was evidently a strategy of a city within a city, in order to prevent others from finding the location of their headquarters.

"In the mountain areas, we have three opponents. One is at G6. Captain Mu Shaoyu is responsible for that side. One is at G12, which is close to the side that Captain Han Yu is responsible for." Ling Lan pointed towards the areas that were somewhat far from where they were and told them where the enemies were lurking. She then also pointed towards the furthest corner of the mountain ranges that were very far from them. "And there's this one, at G2. This one doesn't really matter because here, here, and here, all have military academy headquarters. They have to face these opponents before they can expand towards our side."

Mu Shaoyu and Han Yu felt that Ling Lan's analysis of why the third opponent would not be a problem was very accurate. Firstly, they were too far away from them compared to the Area G6 and G12 which were much closer. Secondly, the military academy in Area G2 was really unlucky. In the four areas that were adjacent to them, other than G1 being uninhabited, the other three areas, P3, P4 and P5, were all unlucky and became a headquarters for the military academies. The military academy in these four areas would either form a temporary alliance and expand outwards together, or fight each other until the strongest was left, taking over all four areas.

However, Ling Lan didn't think that they would be able to successfully form an alliance. Other than that area where they were all squished together, the rest was a large portion of uninhabited areas. They would definitely not be able to maintain their alliances. It would only be an illusion and the end result would definitely be of one betraying the other and stabbing each other in the back, leaving only one team in the end.

Han Yu and Mu Shaoyu left with their orders and began to build headquarters outside the real headquarters in order to confuse the other military academies. As for what the headquarters would become, Ling Lan did not concern herself with it. It would have impossible for Han Yu and Mu Shaoyu to have each become a leader of the four great factions if they didn't have anything up their sleeves. Ling Lan always used the people that she trusted and never those that she didn't. She notified Lin Zhong-qing that as long as their requests were not too overboard, he should fully satisfy the needs of the two faction leaders.

After organizing everything, she saw that Qi Long's bunch had already come beside her. Qi Long was even low spirited and discouraged.

"What's wrong?" Ling Lan asked.

"They all went out. But as for us, are we really just going to sit in headquarters and wait for others to attack? That's so boring." Qi Long wanted to go out and fight. For him, being on the defense was not as thrilling as being on the offense.

"When I finish arranging everything, I will take you guys out to walk around," Ling Lan said speechlessly. She knew these guys couldn't take just sitting around. This was fine since she hadn't been intending on defending their base camp to the death, to begin with.

Ling Lan pinched the object in her bag. They could lose everything if she was wrong, but as for everything they stood to gain… Ling Lan's mouth curled slightly—she had already made up her mind.

In a battle of life or death, her will to gamble was still this strong! Just let all her team members play something stimulating with her then!

Chapter 488 - The Fifth House?

In the monitoring room, all the referees and the staff members were staring at the large screen before them as the territory marked by the First Men's Military Academy expanded slowly…

"Area number 20 has been lit up… G14 as well. Looks like the First Men's Military Academy split their forces, went on the offensive in multiple directions and snatched up all the surrounding unoccupied areas. The zones they control have already expanded to 11 areas." A referee was jotting down the First Men's Military Academy's achievements. Of course, this wasn't the final result—after occupying those areas, they still had to defend them during the 72 hours starting from the official commencement of the battle royale.

Right then, Ling Xiao and others walked towards the middle of the monitoring room to the life-like map on the table. The tall mountains, flowing rivers, fields, and forests were all scaled down and compacted in a model and placed onto this table.

"The First Men's Military Academy has pretty much taken over the rear half of the mountain ranges. Actually, it is because they drew a good location. There are pretty much no opponents near their headquarters. The ones closest to them are at Area G6 and G12 on their left and right sides. They can be more at ease since the Yin Yang Sea is behind them. This is a natural defensive line. Other than the First Men's Military Academy, none of the other military academies can successfully pass through there. This makes it so they have very little pressure coming from their rear," one division representative said while looking at the model and analyzing the advantages held by the First Men's Military Academy. After saying that, he raised his head and looked towards Ling Xiao, who was focused and looking at the terrain. With a hint of provocation in his tone, he said, "General Ling, your juniors seem to have pretty good luck this time." He implied that the great results achieved by the First Men's Military Academy were all due to luck.

Ling Xiao's expression froze slightly. Soon after, his lips curved into a faint, shallow smile and he said, "Yeah, who knew they would be this lucky. To be able to cross the Yin Yang Sea and be the first to reach their headquarters."

Hmph! Was the Yin Yang Sea that easy to cross? He dared to say that his daughter was lucky? Motherf****er! This was a show of strength!

Ling Xiao's words were clearly sarcastic, causing the division representative to suddenly freeze up. In the end, he awkwardly smiled, thinking to himself, "Didn't they say Ling Xiao had a good temper? How come he's being like this now?"

On hearing Ling Xiao's words, He Xuyang revealed a hint of a shallow smile. It was as expected—Young Master Lan was the General's own flesh and blood! He would not let anyone slander her that easily!

Sensing that Ling Xiao was a bit unhappy, the mecha tournament host's representative grudgingly shot a glance at the division representative who did not know his place. Man, did they really think that General Ling Xiao was the same lieutenant from before who would take orders from them? He quickly smiled, and to smooth things over he said, "Luck is also a type of strength. Three hours have almost passed and the only one to reach their headquarters is the First Men's Military Academy. You can tell that this year's participating cadets are very strong. I heard that there was someone considered to be second to General Ling, called… Qiao something?" He turned around towards his assistant beside him.

The assistant reacted quickly and instantly answered, "Qiao Ting, the cadet who advanced to an ace operator in his fourth year."

The host representative nodded and said, "Yes, yes, yes, that's him. Speaking of him, it reminds me that you, General Ling Xiao, created a record when you advanced to an ace operator at the beginning of your fourth year in the academy."

Ling Xiao smiled humbly and said, "You're mocking me right? I know that there were secretly many cadets who advanced to an ace operator during the fourth year. Now that I think about it, I was still young back then and only knew how to show off."

"Hmph, if you guys knew that my daughter advanced to ace in her first year, you would be so surprised your jaws would drop, right? But I'm not going to tell you!" Ling Xiao thought to himself proudly.

The host's representative naturally didn't believe Ling Xiao's words and continued to compliment him. "General Ling is being too modest. There were definitely some who advanced close to the end of their fourth year, but you were the only one who advanced at the beginning of the fourth year, General Ling." After saying this, the representative tapped his head exaggeratedly and said, "Oh right, now there's this Qiao Ting. Why else would he be considered a second General Ling?"

The host's representative thought that the reason Ling Xiao was paying close attention to the First Men's Military Academy was because of the second Ling Xiao, Qiao Ting. His words were, at the same time, intended to praise Qiao Ting and make Ling Xiao happy.

One of the people who came with Ling Xiao was the representative from the third division. Upon hearing all this, his eyes lit up and a feeling of joy flashed in them. His assignment during this mecha tournament was to observe Qiao Ting's performance. As it was already decided internally that Qiao Ting was going to join the third division and become a subordinate of the Third Marshal, he was of utmost importance to the Third Marshal. If Qiao Ting really could become a second Ling Xiao and ultimately become a god-class operator, their strength would become greater than the Second Marshal's faction and maybe even on par with the First Marshal's faction.

Wasn't the only reason why the First Marshal could control the military of the Federation for more than a decade was because he had Ling Xiao, a young and promising god-class operator whose future was boundless? If it wasn't for the coincidence of Ling Xiao's 'sacrifice' that gave the First Marshal's faction a chance to use public opinions to make both the military and public angry, making their two factions have no choice but to give up on the competition, it would not have been so easy for the First Marshal's faction to take control of the military to this day.

In the end, they had waited until the impact of Ling Xiao's 'sacrifice' had reached its lowest stage and the position of the First Marshal had become unstable. It was right that time, however, that Ling Xiao coincidentally 'revived'. Upon the return of Ling Xiao, whose battle level was already known by the public, thousands came to see him. This made the weakened influence of the First Marshal's faction return to their peak, and the seat of the First Marshal became stable once again…

If Qiao Ting could be like Ling Xiao in terms of quick growth, in six years he would be able to successfully advance to god-class. That would be the day when the third faction would retaliate. The third division representative's smirk became more pronounced. It was as though he could see the proud day when they achieved this goal in the future.

The host's representative's words only made Lin Xiao smile a bit just for show. He knew of Qiao Ting because his own daughter wanted to lead her team to compete in the mecha tournament. Children who walked thousands of miles would make their fathers worry for them! It was thus only natural that Ling Xiao needed to know about those members from Ling Lan's team. Ling Xiao paid a bit more attention to Qiao Ting because he was a genius above all others in every aspect, and was listed by intelligence officers as the number one cadet; however, that was it.

Right then, the staff in the monitoring room suddenly said, "A second military academy has appeared."

As soon as he finished, another person said, "A third one has appeared as well…"

"A fourth is there as well…"

"Ah, another area has been lit up. A fifth one…"

On the large screen, numerous areas were lit up at the same time. Originally, only the G district had color and the other parts of the map were grayed out, but now the map finally had many colorful parts that were full of life.

"Finished receiving signal from Area P47. It's the First Co-ed Military Academy!" Area P47 was near the middle of the large map in grasslands. This location was both good and bad. It was good because no matter which side they headed towards, the Co-ed Military Academy would be able to take over a large area. It was bad for the same reason—there were enemies all around them. Plus, in grassland areas, there weren't any places to hide in the environment. The headquarters in this area was the hardest to defend.

If they wanted to defend this area, they would need manpower to do so. This way, the number of people that the First Co-ed Military Academy could send out to go on the offensive would be less. The rules of the tournament were for them to first defend their own headquarters and then think about other things. This was why the First Co-ed Military Academy urgently needed to form an alliance with the First Men's Military Academy. Even if the First Academy didn't help them, it would still be good if there was one less strong opponent like them.

"Area Q9's signal has been fully received. It is the Second Men's Military Academy…" The area where the Second Men's Military Academy was in was a hilly area. If they planned well, it would be a place that would be easy to defend and hard to attack. They were in a better situation compared to the Co-ed Military Academy, but it was just that hilly areas were at the southwest corner of the large map; if they wanted to attack other areas, they would first need to fight through the hilly areas in the southwest corner. Just like what was said before, the hilly areas were all easy to defend and hard to attack. That was why in order for the Second Men's Military Academy to walk out of the hill areas, they had to attack one area at a time like screwing a corkscrew. If they wanted to conquer a large area, it would be much harder compared to the First Co-ed Military Academy's Area P.

"Area S33's signal has been fully received. It is the Third Men's Military Academy." Almost at the same time, the Third Men's Military Academy closely followed the Second Men's Military Academy in occupying their own headquarters as well. The forest was a place that they could easily hide in. Finding opponents hidden in a forest would be very difficult to do. If the Third Men's Military Academy wanted to overcome the opponents around them, they would have it easier than the Second Men's Military Academy in Area Q.

"Area S9 has also been lit up. We don't know which military academy acquired the fifth placement," excitedly said the referee who was receiving the signal of Area S9. Currently, the top four academies had all successfully lit up their areas. Other than the First Men's Military Academy being the first by a mile, the other three military academies had lit up their locations within seconds of each other. Was this Area S9 taken by one of the top ten military academies? Or was it a black horse hidden among the military academies? Since they could keep up so closely with the three military academies and pretty much occupying their area at the same time, their strength was probably no less those three academies… The referee stared at the percentage of the signal being received, wanting to know the answer as soon as possible, looking forward to seeing who the fifth military academy was.

The others had raised their heads with interest upon hearing about the fifth military academy that had joined in at the same time as the other three.

"It's showing up. It's… how is it the First Men's Military Academy!" The referee had seen that 100% of the signal was received and had suddenly become focused, but when he raised his head to take a look, his expression changed instantly.

The emblem that showed up on the big screen, after Area S9 was lit up, was of the First Men's Military Academy.

His surprised voice made the entire monitoring room immediately fall silent. Everyone looked at Area S9 which represented the territory of the First Men's Military Academy with dumbfounded looks.

Ling Xiao's eyes suddenly lit up and he quickly walked towards Area S9 which was shown on the model on the table. He frowned and looked at Area S9, and then looked again at the G district that had all been connected together. He then said, "The First Men's Military Academy didn't just split their forces towards the left and right. At the same time, they sent out another team and came to the S district."

"They split their forces this much? How many people are left in their headquarters? Are they abandoning their base?" a division's representative said surprisedly with a face full of disbelief.

Chapter 489 - Deeper Meaning!

With regards to such a bold and reckless operation by the First Men's Military Academy, the expressions of those in the monitoring room were not approving. Only a few frowned and thought more deeply about the point of this operation.

Ling Xiao was one of them. He put his hand on his chin and looked at the scaled down model of the map of the terrain and entered deep thought.

"Area S9 is the intersection between the forest area and grassland area, as well as the center of the forest area. A special-class mecha's radar is probably capable of covering two-thirds of this area. For an ace mecha, it could cover 100%…"

Ling Xiao thought deeply as to the intentions of the First Men's Military Academy. "Sending out a team to Area S9 which is far away and lighting it up just for conquering the area? That doesn't make sense. If Area S, Q, and M wanted to attack Area P, they must pass Area S… but Area P is where there are the most number of headquarters. When the battle royale starts, this place will definitely become a location everyone will fight for and will be the most brutal battlefield. The First Men's Military Academy which was originally in Area G could have just sat back and watched the show, yet they want to tread in these muddy waters instead.

"Logically, the main forces would defend the base camp, since the headquarters is the crux of the battle royale. If a fight broke out in Area S, their headquarters would definitely not be able to send reinforcements. And relying on the mecha operators split off from the main group to defend the area is pretty much impossible. Since that's the case, then why would they come to light up S9 and do something meaningless?

"Lan'er won't have missed this point, so then why would she arrange this? Could it be that there's someone who refused to comply with Lan'er's decision and the result was that they moved out without permission?" Ling Xiao's brows immediately formed a frown upon thinking of this possibility. He thought about Qiao Ting, the person who was nicknamed the second Ling Xiao. Was it him?

However, in the private meetings between father and daughter in the past few days, Ling Lan's expression was as light as the wind. It was possible that she already had these issues under control. The frown on Ling Xiao's brows slowly eased. He was very confident in his daughter. Ling Lan's capability was not to be looked down on since she was able to take care and look after the Ling family during the 16 years that he had 'sacrificed' himself for the country.

"Since there's definitely no one going off on their own, then this operation was arranged by Lan'er, or was approved by her…" Ling Xiao speculated and came to this conclusion as his eyes lit up. His own daughter would not make a move blindly—there was definitely more to this matter than meets the eye.

Ling Xiao scanned the map on the table once again, imprinting all the terrains of each area into his eyes and going through them in his mind once again.

"No!" Ling Xiao's eyes suddenly narrowed and he said, "This is a defensive checkpoint! Lan'er wants to block off all teams from Area S. Since they have to protect their headquarters, the number of forces they can send out for an attack can't be that much… If they send a strong team to stay in this location and mount a sneak attack, the probability of success is very high. If the team leader is Qiao Ting, then not only does the success rate increase exponentially but at the same time, Area S would become the best shield for them."

Ling Xiao lips showed a hint of a smile. He was already certain that the battle team which lit up Area S9 was the team led by Qiao Ting. And only he could make the best possible result out of this maneuver. This move that Lan'er had arranged was indeed amazing, as even he could not contain his surprise.

Right when Ling Xiao predicted what would happen, the other audience members and referees, who had doubts about the move the First Men's Military Academy had made, had already switched to Area S9 on the big screen.

They could see that there were many mechas flying about in Area S9. Some were patrolling, some were resting and some were waiting for orders. In the resting area, there was a certain mecha that took away everyone's attention, and it was none other than one of the three ace mecha which had appeared in this tournament. It was one of the strongest ace mecha—Qiao Ting's long-range mecha.

"It's Qiao Ting. Qiao Ting isn't defending their headquarters? They've gone mad." Everyone saw this situation, looks of incomprehension on their faces.

The First Men's Military Academy was already at the right place and right time, but as luck would have it, problems arose in the arrangements of their forces. They lost the opportunity they had and squandered the great situation they were in. This made them feel sorry for them, but also expected them to do better.

It should be known that, in order to defend the headquarters well, the best battle team of the military academy and their mecha operators would stay and defend the camp and would not leave rashly; after all, the headquarters was the crux of the battle royale. If the headquarters were taken by others, the territories that were snatched up would instantly become nothing. Their score would become zero and they would be instantly eliminated. No military academy dared to bet on that outcome, and this was why the forces that attacked were always the secondary battle team, leaving the defense to the strongest first battle team.

"No, this is a good plan," someone said, stating an opinion opposite to the general consensus. Everyone looked at that person with shocked expressions, and they found out that the speaker was He Xuyang, who was standing beside Ling Xiao with a face full of smiles.

Everyone reflexively looked towards Ling Xiao and saw that he was holding his laughter; he was not against what his staff officer had said. Everyone instantly calmed down. Those who could become high ranking officers in the army were not idiots. They began to fall into deep thought and contemplate why He Xuyang had said what he did.

The vice president of the Federation wasn't really knowledgeable about the mecha battle team's strategies. Not knowing anything, he simply asked, "Staff Officer He, can you explain to me? I don't have an understanding of these things."

He Xuyang looked at Ling Xiao, who nodded lightly in response, then He Xuyang answered, "Where is the location of the First Men's Military Academy? Other than us, the spectators who know for certain, the other military academies don't have a clue. If Qiao Ting is holding his ground in Area S9 and the other academies saw him there, what would be their first thought?"

Many people came to a realization at He Xuyang's reminder, and someone yelled, "Area S9 is their headquarters."

He Xuyang's smile grew wider at those words. "Yes. The other military academies will definitely think that Area S9, with Qiao Ting holding it, will be the First Men's Military Academy's headquarters. If my guess isn't wrong, Qiao Ting's mission there is to block off the battle teams who try to move into Area S from Area P and proceed with something similar to a slaughter."

Hearing that, the vice president instantly breathed in a mouthful of cold air and said, "Isn't this going to make everyone angry? Does the First Men's Military Academy not fear the other military academies forming alliances?"

He Xuyang smiled and said, "This the First Men's Military Academy's goal. Since Area S9 is the First Men's Military Academy's headquarters, they will definitely want to form alliances and eliminate the strongest opponent. However, after using so much effort to take Area S9, they'll find that they only took down an uninhabited area…"

He Xuyang's words made the others want to know the final result. After attacking Area S9, all of the allied military academies would have fits on the spot. The fruits of their labor, after investing so much effort and perhaps even taking painful losses, would only be something that was worthless and could be easily tossed aside—they would definitely feel bad about it.

"Sacrificing their strongest team and individual in order to draw everyone's attention, is this worth it? And once those who had realized the truth find out where the real headquarters of the First Men's Military Academy lay, the First Men's Military Academy may not have the ability to defend." Many people acknowledged this move made by the First Men's Military Academy; however, there were still those being stubborn because they hadn't seen through the plan themselves and felt embarrassed. Thus, they would not admit to the excellence of the cadets.

"Since it's an uninhabited area that can just be tossed aside, Qiao Ting's group will not defend it to their death." He Xuyang mentioned casually, a hint of disdain flashing across his eyes. "As long as Qiao Ting isn't dumb and leaves after delaying as much as he can, just some special-class operators will not be enough to keep an ace operator from going, unless there is another ace operator…

"As for finding the First Men's Military Academy's real headquarters… within 72 hours… Haha!" He Xuyang laughed lightly twice and did not continue to speak. The meaning of his words was very clear. Finding their real headquarters would be impossible, as time moved forward and would not pause for anything.

He Xuyang's expression made the officer who had differing opinions feel embarrassed. He glanced at the silent Ling Xiao and suppressed the anger rising up from his chest…

One of the officers who were also deeply in thought like Ling Xiao was at the beginning saw this situation and sighed silently. That officer who had differing opinions was brought along by him. This person was actually an idiot, and it just happened so that he was narrow-minded and tended to be envious of those who were capable. If it wasn't for the fact that this guy was the brother-in-law of the deputy division officer, there would have been no way for him to get to the position he had now. This time around as well, he had used his connection with the deputy division officer in order to come to the mecha tournament. However, he was always someone that started up sh*t. It was so embarrassing and it would be hard to explain this incident to the higher-ups when they returned. Thus, the officer explained, "What staff officer He means is that even if the headquarters in Area G was found, the other military academies would not have enough time to find out which one is the real headquarters. And on top of that, 72 hours would not be enough for them to search one by one."

"Why?" The officer with differing opinions asked confusedly.

Man, idiots were really idiots. Could they at least try to pretend to be smart? He still had to ask about such a simple situation. Now everyone definitely knew that he had brought a big idiot.

The leading officer felt the ridicule in the gazes of those around him, making him feel very embarrassed. He still had to respond despite this, however, as there was no way he could offend this narrow-minded person. Thus, holding back his embarrassment, he replied, "There are already 11 districts lit up in Area G and they are already connected with each other. The First Men's Military Academy will definitely defend on the area's periphery and create a city within a city. Even if they can't defend these locations, they can fight and retreat and that would be enough for them until the battle royal is over."

After saying this, he could not suppress an inward sigh. Everyone being people all the same, these young cadets could come up with such an outstanding defensive plan, while this idiot who was almost 40 years old didn't understand anything. He could barely compare to even a finger of these cadets.

The idiot officer could only pout about it and stop talking after hearing the answer. At that moment, he was already feeling the glances of ridicule from those around him, inwardly hating them for it. He hated He Xuyang, who didn't give him any respect and only threw an expression of ridicule at him. At the same time, he also hated the officer who tried to get him out of the situation. He decided that when he went back, he would tell his brother-in-law about this officer who made him look bad. He would ask his brother-in-law to send this officer to the poorest borders to defend the territories there.

After hearing He Xuyang and the officer's explanations, the Federation's vice president immediately understood. His eyes showed a bit of excitement and he said, "So that's how it is. Looks like the First Men's Military Academy will have no problem taking first place in the tournament. General Ling, I want to congratulate you in advance. Your juniors' performance seems to be very exceptional."

Ling Xiao laughed and said, "Mister Vice President, you shouldn't say that. The battle royale hasn't ended yet. Anything's possible!"

Chapter 490 - Gemini?

It was 11 o'clock on planet Qiming. On this unknown planet, although it was daytime, the real situation was very bad. One second it was sunny as summer's day and the next, it was thunderstorms and hurricanes. The dark weather conditions and pouring rain made visibility on the monitors of the mecha drop quickly. It was pretty much the same as that night when they could not even see their own two hands.

Or perhaps, the weather was too severe. In the originally busy airspace above Area P, one could not even see a single mecha flying about.

Boom! Boom! Boom!… Among the sound of the pouring rain hitting the trees and the ground, there seemed to be some muffled sounds of engines mixed in. Perhaps the pouring rain was cutting off the noise, or perhaps these engines were on low gear. It was as though the engine sounds were there one second and gone the other, making it difficult to tell whether there were actually any engine sounds or not…

A few seconds later, a mecha team appeared above Area P as they moved at a constant speed. The route they traveled was very ingenious, largely evading the area of the headquarters and passing by uninhabited areas.

Staring at the screen of his mecha, Xie Yi could not see anything but the fog and rain, not even the teammates in front of him. Although he knew they were in front, he still could not see any traces of them. The only thing that gave him the feeling of their presence was the flashing green signal lights on the radar which represented his teammates, proving that he was not alone in this thunderstorm…

The silent environment, coupled with the sense of loneliness brought by the inability to see his teammates, made Xie Yi, who always enjoyed being busy, feel a little annoyed. Finally, after a few minutes, he could not handle such a dull atmosphere and whispered, "Man, this f**king weather is really f**king annoying!"

"Although the outside environment is indeed a bit bad, in the mecha, other than the impact on our visibility, there aren't any major problems." A gentle voice rang in the team's communication channel; it was the always good-tempered Li Lanfeng.

Xie Yi heard this and his face instantly turned red. It turned out that he had just forgotten to temporarily turn off his microphone, and his impatient voice was heard by the entire team… He had been trying to maintain the image of a sunny boy, but it was completely ruined! Xie Yi was very annoyed.

"Yeah, and because of this weather, the mecha flying above Area P have obviously become much less than before. This helps us pass without too much interference. I think this is good luck for us. This rain is really good." Luo Lang's soft voice rang in the team channel. "Xie Yi, be more patient. You're not like this normally," Luo Lang said with a hint of incomprehension in his tone. Perhaps to Luo Lang, the image of Xie Yi's character as a sunny and reliable individual was deeply embedded. Comparing that image to the current Xie Yi, who was being impatient, Luo Lang could not accept the change in such a short amount of time.

"Huh? I just like it to be a bit lively. The silence was killing me, making me feel very uncomfortable and a bit irritated. I am really sorry everyone," Xie Yi quickly explained and apologized. He had to restore his image, and he could not let Luo Lang and the others be disappointed.

"It indeed gave me an illusionary feeling when no was speaking. It was as though I was the last person left in the world," Qi Long inserted loudly.

"It's so silent that it's suffocating," Xie Yi said, laughing weakly.

Right then, Ling Lan, who was at the front, heard all this and had a thought: was it possible that Xie Yi, who was always sunshine and rainbows, had a story?

Perhaps Luo Lang felt that Xie Yi was sensitive to the silence and thus spoke out without any topics in mind, "Boss, is it alright if we just leave the base camp like this?" Alright, in reality, he was also feeling somewhat uneasy.

"It's alright. There are the other mecha teams who worked together and formed two teams of special-class mecha battle teams. In addition, there's also the logistics team formed by Wu Jiong, Li Yingjie, Ye Xu and Lin Zhong-qing. Furthermore, there's also Jijyun defending the base camp and forming plans and strategies. As long as our opponents are not ace level operators, this setup is enough to handle them," Ling Lan responded.

"Jijyun's luck sucks so bad!" Ling Lan's words made Qi Long sigh.

There was a hint of a smile in Li Lanfeng's expression, a sense of self-satisfaction flashing across his eyes. This time, Li Lanfeng had actually used some little tricks. Using his talents, he had forcefully influenced Han Jijyun's speculations. This was how he had won over him and made him stay at headquarters.

He wasn't sure if Han Jijyun had realized the truth by now; however, no matter how angry he was, or if he called Li Lanfeng despicable, Li Lanfeng would still have done the same. He didn't want to miss a chance to move out with Rabbit. This was Li Lanfeng's obsession. He had almost lost all possible opportunities to be together in this lifetime when he missed out the last time, so this time he didn't want to miss out.

As the strategists of the Lingtian clan, either Li Lanfeng or Han Jijyun needed to stay back to defend the headquarters. Since Li Lanfeng didn't want to stay, then that only left Han Jijyun.

This time, there were only six members working together with Ling Lan: Li Lanfeng, Zhao Jun, Qi Long, Luo Lang, Xie Yi, and Li Shiyu.

Han Jijyun was tricked by Li Lanfeng into defending the base camp, while Chang Xinyuan needed to lead the modification team to modify the different types of weapons at headquarters. They were so busy that even if Chang Xinyuan had wanted to follow Ling Lan and the others, he wouldn't have been able to. As for Lin Zhong-qing, he was responsible for the logistics and resources for the entire team and was also not able to follow Ling Lan. This made them feel regretful, as they knew that it would be much more exciting and stimulating going out with their boss rather than defending the base camp.

When they had almost flown past Area P to reach Area S, Luo Lang asked confusedly, "Boss, isn't our target Area P this time?"

"No!" Ling Lan responded decisively.

"Then which territory?" Luo Lang asked again.

"We're heading to Area S first!" Ling Lan answered for all her teammates.

"Isn't Qiao Ting responsible for Area S?" Ling Lan's words made Li Lanfeng become suddenly confused. He remembered that the plan he and the other advisers had thought up was that Qiao Ting would be fully responsible for Area S. Was it because Rabbit feared that Qiao Ting didn't have enough manpower? That was why they had come to help him?

However, if a battle broke out which even the 24-man special-class mecha team led by Qiao Ting couldn't resolve, then the seven of them coming to help would not make a difference. Even though Rabbit and Qiao Ting were both ace operators, Ling Lan was operating a special-class mecha as she was hiding her true abilities. Additionally, their team was composed of both special-class operators and advanced operators, an odd bunch with varying capabilities. Compared to Qiao Ting's team, they were too inferior.

"Qiao Ting is still responsible for Area S. I just want to pass by Area S," Ling Lan explained.

"Pass by?" Luo Lang showed a confused expression, while everyone else began to enter deep thought. Other than the normal Luo Lang, who was a bit simple-minded, the others were not simpletons; they all had their own ideas.

"Is it Area Q? Or M?" The map of the battle royale appeared in Li Lanfeng's mind. He recalled the other military academies that he told Ling Lan to keep in mind. Suddenly, Area Q, where the Second Men's Military Academy was situated, appeared in his mind. Li Lanfeng immediately laughed and said, "Are we going to Area Q for the Second Men's Military Academy?"

Li Lanfeng words made Ling Lan's lip curl slightly—she was very pleased. She found that Li Lanfeng was well aware of her thoughts, able to guess it correctly 8 or 9 out of 10 times. It seemed that Li Lanfeng was sincere in forming the close relationship they had during their younger years, or else he wouldn't know her this well.

She felt pity towards him when she thought of the fact that due to his strong spiritual power, his body was as weak as it could possibly be. The results of the recovery method were not as good as when it was during Ling Lan's childhood, as Li Lanfeng's body had grown up in all aspects. If he wanted to recover to the best physical condition, he might need five to six years, or even ten. Ling Lan had only just found out about this problem. If Li Lanfeng's goal had not been to become a strong mecha operator, a slow recovery wouldn't be a problem, but it just so happened that Li Lanfeng's goal was very clear and that was to become a mecha operator. This made the ten year recovery period seem way too long.

The best time for a mecha operator to advance was exactly around 20-30 years of age. If Li Lanfeng could only reach the peak of his physical condition when he became 30 years old, then he would have actually missed the best time for him to advance. This would affect the future in ways that would be possibly huge…

"Looks like I need to use some time and effort to resolve the issue of his physical condition before Li Lanfeng reports to the army!" Ling Lan thought to herself.

At this moment, Ling Lan had really put Li Lanfeng's dilemma into her heart. Li Lanfeng's whole-hearted, sincere service and outstanding performance in the past year or so was finally rewarded. This made him the first person to be included in Ling Lan's thoughts other than Qi Long and those others who had grown up with Ling Lan. It was something to be happy about.

Zhao Jun heard Li Lanfeng's cry of triumph, frowned and said, "Didn't we say that we were letting the First Co-ed Military Academy handle the Second Men's Military Academy?" When Ling Lan and Lin Xiao had agreed to the alliance, Zhao Jun, who had been present at the scene, heard everything clearly. If Boss Lan suddenly went back on his word, wouldn't that make the First Co-ed Military Academy unhappy? Wouldn't that destroy the alliance between the two?

Ling Lan heard this and her lip curled once again. "When I said that I agreed, I meant I agreed to the alliance. I didn't say I would give them the Second Men's Military Academy," Ling Lan said plainly.

How could Ling Lan let the Second Men's Military Academy go? Those who dared to lay a finger on her, whether they were younger brothers or sisters, would all have to pay dearly. It was the same with what happened at Tianji's headquarters, and this time the Second Men's Military Academy was going to be the same as well. When the mecha tournament started, Ling Lan had already made up her mind that she would not let the Second Men's Military Academy get even one point in the battle royale. Yes, she had made up her mind very early on. She was planning on eliminating the Second Men's Military Academy from the battle royale, and this was also one of the reasons why she went from the far north to the south that was thousands of miles away and not for the actual score or strategy.

Ling Lan was this kind of person!

Ling Lan's words made everyone remember the image of the discussion from before. Indeed, just as Ling Lan had said, she didn't promise the First Co-ed Military Academy anything. Saying "agreed" could have been understood as she promised or it could be understood that she only agreed to the alliance.

As expected, Boss was black-bellied! Qi Long and the others felt that they needed to have their guards up. They decided that in future when they listened to Boss, they had to be wary in case Boss sold them out while they counted the money she earned.

Upon hearing that they were going to attack the Second Men's Military Academy, Zhao Jun suddenly became excited. If they could really bring down the headquarters of the Second Men's Military Academy, then that would be a feat that could shake and encourage their members. He didn't forget that they had been pressured into second place for the past 7 tournaments by the Second Men's Military Academy. This kind of humiliation had already been deeply rooted into the bones of all the cadets at the First Men's Military Academy.

However, after his excitement faded and he calmed down, Zhao Jun hung his face down. There would be at least 5 to 6 mecha teams defending the Second Academy's base camp with the ace operator Jiang Shaoyu as their leader. Could they really take it down with just the seven of them?

He laughed weakly and said, "Boss, just the seven of us are going to attack the Second Men's Military Academy? Isn't… isn't this too difficult?"

Ling frowned at that and said, "Actually, I was always annoyed about one thing, which is: why are everyone's sights directed towards mecha battles?" Ling Lan touched the small item in her pocket once again. She indeed wanted to try out whether her idea would work or not.

"You're saying, we go in without mechas? That's… that's too dangerous." Knowing Ling Lan, Li Lanfeng instantly understood what Ling Lan was planning, and he was vehemently opposed to it.

Why did the battle royale become a mecha battle? Well, that was because, in mecha battles, there were mecha to protect people, which made it harder for operators to be harmed or to die. However, as soon as they left their mechas behind and used their physical bodies to go in and fight, not only would they not be able to go against any type of artillery or weapons, without the protection of the mechas, even the environment of the planet would make it hard to move forward.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch. If it wasn't perfectly safe, I wouldn't do it," Ling Lan quickly comforted Li Lanfeng after sensing his care and worry.

As expected, it wasn't a good thing when someone knew too much. Just one little hint and Li Lanfeng was able to find out! Ling Lan was pleased, but also felt annoyed. She was proficient in satirizing others, not comforting them…

Ling Lan words only made Li Lanfeng sigh internally. He knew that once Rabbit had decided on something, he would not change his mind, and furthermore, there was the fact that he was an expert in the field of physical skills. The influence of the environment on these experts was very minimal. Even if they went against special-class operators where high-level field experts couldn't win, they would still be able to escape without any issue. In reality, even if he opposed the idea, he would not have any strong reason to go against Ling Lan's decision.

The seven of them arrived at a corner in Area P which was close to Area S. Ling suddenly stopped her mecha and said, "Find a place to hide immediately. Deactivate your mecha. If I don't move, no one else is allowed to move."

With that said, she was the first to move her mecha down to the ground and found a tall towering tree surrounded by lush foliage to hide by. Qi Long and the others reacted very quickly; all of them quickly found places that suited them and at the same time, they turned off the engine of the mechas, and silently hid.

Ten minutes later, a mecha team could be seen moving in from the southeast.

This surprised Qi Long and the others who were hiding on the side, even Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng. They were all using special-class mecha, yet how was it that Ling Lan discovered this mecha team and they didn't? Was it because Ling Lan's special-class mecha was different from theirs? Or maybe Ling Lan had other secrets?

All these questions flashed through Li Lanfeng and Zhao Jun's minds. They quickly focused on using their physical skills to decrease their body temperature to the lowest possible degree that they could endure, and their heart rate also began to drop likewise. A mecha with its engines off didn't have any isolation barriers or protective equipment. The body temperature and the energy created from the blood flow of mecha operators would easily be located by a mecha's heat sensor. In order to avoid being exposed, lowering one's body temperature and heart rate was what each mecha operator needed to be capable of.

It was a good thing that the physical skills of this group weren't too bad. They pretty much all controlled their body temperature and blood flow speed. Of course, it was possible that these mecha didn't have heat sensors, or perhaps they had only turned on their radars. The radar of mecha was very sensitive to mecha engines and as luck would have it, it was not effective in detecting human bodies… In short, this team of mecha didn't discover them. They hovered around the airspace above them, then flew away.

Ling Lan's group didn't move and remained as they were, not moving a muscle. After around ten minutes passed, the mecha team which had left earlier returned. This time, they went around a few times, and then they slowly flew in the direction where they had come from.

Ling Lan's patience was very good. She merely waited patiently and 10 minutes had passed. Then 20 minutes. Then 30 minutes. The others who were waiting almost lost their patience. If they didn't see that Ling Lan was still hiding in the same corner without moving an inch, Qi Long and the others would have thought Ling Lan had already left.

Another 10 minutes had passed. Xie Yi, who was greatly opposed to this silent and lonely atmosphere, wanted to hit the ON button for his mecha's engine. Right then, Ling's cold words suddenly rang out in his mind, "If I don't move, no one else is allowed to move!"

Cold sweat suddenly began to drip down from his forehead and he forcefully withdrew his finger. The feeling of frustration present in him became replaced by calm once again.

"Looks like Boss has already found out." Returning to his normal self, Xie Yi still didn't understand something. He immediately laughed weakly. "Maybe I should find Boss Lan and have a discussion about it, and hope that he has a way to solve my issue." Despite having spent all this time pretending to be sunny and happy, he still couldn't fool himself in the end.

Xie Yi was once again envious of Luo Lang. There were so many different personalities inside Luo Lang, yet he was still able to keep the original persona so clean and uncontaminated. For Xie Yi, this was considered a miracle. As for himself, he was affected despite only having one extra personality and as time passed, this issue was becoming increasingly severe.

Back in the days when he enjoyed following Luo Lang around, seeing him smiling happily and living recklessly, while still being happy no matter if he was humiliated or insulted, had made Xie Yi feel that his problem was not serious at all. He felt that he could overcome the other side of himself that was affecting him. He felt that there was still much hope for him in the future…

Yes, he liked the simple Luo Lang. He desired to become like Luo Lang, to be unaffected and to be himself. It could even be said that Luo Lang was the reason that he had continued to endure until now.

"I won't give in!" Luo Lang's reckless smile once again appeared in Xie Yi's mind. Xie Yi clenched his fists firmly. If Luo Lang could do it, then he could do it as well.

In Xie Yi's mind, he could lose to anyone other than Luo Lang. If he couldn't even beat the soft and delicate Luo Lang, then how would he be able to have the dignity to stay in Boss Lan's battle team?

Everyone had their own bottom line and Luo Lang was the bottom line which Xie Yi would not bow down to…

Perhaps it was because of Ling Lan's spiritual charge or because Xie Yi's will to fight had once again begun to burn inside him, but the severely depressing emotions affecting Xie Yi were fading. Xie Yi recovered his initial endurance…

10 minutes passed by quickly once again. Right then, the pouring rain had been slowing down and after 2 to 3 minutes, the sky was no longer filled with rain, but terrifying hail instead.

The temperature instantly fell from the heat of a hot summer to the chill of the coldest of winters. Since they didn't turn on the engines of the mechas, the equipment for maintaining a constant temperature could not be turned on either. The temperature inside their mecha dropped at an alarming rate, instantly falling to negative 15 degrees or so. Ling Lan couldn't help but frown. Her talent was Ice Affinity. No matter how low the temperature was, it would not affect her. However, her teammates were not the same.

Qi Long's physique was sturdy, which Ling Lan was not worried about. Zhao Jun was similar and would probably be able to endure this little bit of cold. Luo Lang had multiple personalities. If he couldn't handle it, then he could activate his other personalities to withstand it. Xie Yi's physique wasn't bad either. Even if it meant he had to suffer a bit, it would not affect him that much. And as for the military medic Li Shiyu, he definitely had a way to protect himself against the cold. Li Lanfeng was the one who worried Ling Lan. With his body, could he really withstand such low temperatures?

Ling Lan unconsciously rubbed her fingers together, considering whether they should keep waiting or not. This was a sudden situation which made her hesitate. Should she persist on her original decision, or risk moving out for the sake of Li Lanfeng's health?

Just when Ling Lan was hesitating and couldn't make a decision, Little Four suddenly said, "Boss, do you still remember the introduction regarding planet Qiming?"

"I remember. The unique thing about planet Qiming is it can let you experience all four seasons in a single day." When she first came across this information, she was surprised by it and was also looking forward to experiencing it for herself. However, during the time that they had been on planet Qiming, the temperature had always stayed around 20 degrees. The weather was so nice that she had forgotten that planet Qiming had this characteristic.

"I now suspect that we're still on planet Qiming," Little Four said.

Ling Lan became surprised at his words and she asked, "Didn't you say that the trajectory and coordinates were not of planet Qiming?"

"Yes, the coordinates and the route of the starship all left the known coordinates of planet Qiming. However, in the records of the Mandora star system, there was once an odd planet. It was called Gemini!"

"Gemini? That Gemini which is part of the 12 horoscopes?" The always calm and collected Ling Lan became astonished after hearing what Little Four said. Gemini. Wasn't that a legendary horoscope? Was there really a planet named Gemini in the real world?

Little Four understood what Ling Lan was saying. He quickly shook his head and said, "Boss, it's not the Gemini stated in the horoscopes. Well, it's actually kind of right. You could say that in the vast universe, if there are two planets where their weather, resources, organisms and other things are practically identical, to an extent that is more than 99%… These two planets would then be called Gemini planets."

After Little Four spoke to this part, he found that he had missed out something important and quickly added, "And these two planets are on the same star map. They are either beside each other or connected to each other. That way they will become Gemini or fake Gemini."

"Do you think it's possible that we are on planet Qiming's Gemini planet? Little Four, open the location of planet Qiming on the star map," Ling Lan ordered quickly.

Chapter 491 - Weakness?

Very soon, a star map appeared inside Ling Lan's mindspace. Ling Lan first found the adjacent side of planet Qiming and then a large asteroid belt. There was no space for a large planet to reside there. And on the side of planet Qiming, in front of it was planet Youming, on its left was planet Zhiyuan, and on its right was planet Shiqiu. it was only the part behind planet Qiming that had planets that were light-years away from it. It was so dark as if there was a black hole in that part of the star map. No matter how Ling Lan looked at it, it looked somewhat odd.

"This location behind planet Qiming is labeled a place where star tidal waves form, forbidding any ships from coming near…" Ling Lan saw the label on the star map. She no longer had anything she didn't understand. "The Gemini planet of planet Qiming is behind it."

If she didn't have Little Four reminding her, she would definitely have been tricked by the star map and thought that this area was the star tidal wave area. After thinking about how the Gemini planet was covered in dark fog, without any light sources seeping out, even if starship fleets were to pass by, they would need to go near the planet's atmosphere and would not be seen. Even if the direction was wrong and they got close by accident and was sucked in by the atmosphere, the starship fleets would assume that it was the gravitational pull of the star tidal waves. Their first thought would be to escape the gravitational pull and not go along with the pull and land…

"Looks like the Federation has many secrets." Ling Lan thought back to the time when she was still in scouts corp. She had come in contact with three planets that were not labeled on the star map. Maybe there were more planets that were hidden away just like this. It was just that they, as commoners, did not know.

Thinking about the fact the Federation would publicize planets that adventurers had found each decade and made people oddly amazed, this was perhaps a means used by the Federation to make everyone believe that the government was working hard in expanding the universe of the human race and finding more resources to expand the Federation.

"It's behind planet Qiming, then that means it is connected. It's a real Gemini planet and not an adjacent fake." The results of Ling Lan's final speculation made Little Four so happy that he began to smile, which made his two eyes became two crescent moons.

Little Four couldn't help but be happy. Gemini planets were a wondrous existence. Even in the Mandora star system, with a history of billions of years, they had only managed to find one Gemini planet. They didn't think that there would be this wondrous existence in such a low level-one or two evolutionary galaxy.

Little Four's mouth uncontrollably moved a bit. In end, he still couldn't hold it in and told the real secret of the Gemini planets to Ling Lan—in the mecha history of the Mandora star system, there was a mystical, powerful and terrifying mecha. Its main material could only be forged on the dark planet of the Gemini planets.

"I should still wait a bit! Wait until the Boss becomes even stronger, then come here and find that legendary material!" Little Four thought.

Ling Lan returned to her calm state due to Little Four's interruption. Her previous hesitation changed into strong resolve. She remembered that she had told Lin Zhong-qing to exchange for more temperature-control medication in order to handle the odd weather and temperatures on planet Qiming. She remembered that these things were in the personal resources that were given to everyone. Li Lanfeng was a smart person. He would definitely have thought about all this to resolve the issue at hand.

When Ling Lan stopped worrying, she began to judge herself at the same time. If a commander was to lose their cool and make an incorrect decision, then not only would it bad for her, but also for the team members that had put their trust in her…

Li Lanfeng! Li Lanfeng! Ling Lan bit her lip. This was the first time that she clearly saw what her weakness was. For the people who looked as though they were soft and delicate, Ling Lan could not be ruthless towards them. She would become irresolute and hesitant. It was like this with Luo Chao and also with Li Lanfeng.

"Looks like I still need to go into the learning space to train." Ling Lan silently made a decision. Now that she had become the leader of these friends of hers, she would not allow herself to have this weakness and put her and her friends in danger.

The now calm Ling Lan decided to keep waiting. The clock had already reached midnight on planet Qiming at that moment. The military academies that had more or less constructed their headquarters had begun to send out some battle teams to go into the surrounding areas to investigate.

The battle royale had a rule that before midnight, other than taking over uninhabited areas, the headquarters of the military academies were not allowed to be attacked. The time of the attack had to be after midnight. This rule was to make sure all the military academies had time to build their headquarters. At the same time, it was also to give all the cadets some time to rest…

Although it was already time when they could begin their attack, this was not the optimal time that Ling Lan was thinking about. Thus, she chose to remain at the same spot, not moving an inch. Before Area S and Area P became a battleground, Ling Lan would not move no matter what.

Those who followed Ling Lan were pretty much all the members who trusted Ling Lan the most. Other than Qi Long, Luo Lang and Xie Yi whom she had grown up with, Li Lanfeng was even more of a strong supporter of Ling Lan. Ever since Zhao Jun joined the battle team, after being beaten up by Ling Lan many times, he also admitted to her superiority. The only person that was suspicions of Ling Lan was Li Shiyu. However, he was someone who was patient, and since the teammates beside him were not moving, he, of course, wouldn't move either.

Very soon after, the mecha of these seven were blanketed by a sheet of snow. Even if someone was to come close now, they would think that they were some rocks covered by the snow…

While Ling Lan was waiting patiently for the best possible time to move out, in Area S9, Qiao Ting was preparing to move out. Amidst the swirling white snow, he made his mecha fly up into mid-air and stared at the mecha's radar. The radar on ace mechas was able to cover a small portion of Area S and Area P.

Very soon, there was finally some movement in Area S. The headquarters in Area S had sent out a 24-man mecha battle team.

"All team members, ready to move out!" Qiao Ting decisively opened the team channel and ordered.

"Yes, Captain!" All the members began to move out. Engines began to roar, whether it belonged to patrol personnel or mecha that were resting about. All the mechas flew rapidly into the air and gathered around Qiao Ting.

"Captain, is something happening?" The information that Qiao Ting's ace mecha's radar could discover may not be able to be discovered by special-class mechas. Qiao Ting's vice-captain began to ask about the situation once he was beside Qiao Ting.

"There's a 24 man battle team coming from Area S to Area P." Qiao Ting told everyone what he had discovered.

"Haha, we're really lucky. The battle royale just started and we got a battle coming." The team members were itching to start. This was the first battle for many members. They had been spectators for the past 15 or so days and this had made them itch for a battle, unable to wait for a fight against their opponents to satisfy their craving.

Qiao Ting scanned the circle of battle-ready members around him and reminded, "Our mission is very important. Everyone must be careful and not stray from the team."

"Yes, Captain!" They replied with gratitude. They felt the concern in Qiao Ting's voice.

Seeing that the opposition had chosen their direction to move in, Qiao Ting calculated that they could stop them right before they reached Area P. He thus ordered, "Move out!"

With that order given, he operated his mecha and was the first to fly out. His team members followed him in an orderly fashion. Their formation did not change during the tense march. They all made sure they had the best distance apart from each other and was organized and in an orderly fashion.

This proved that Qiao Ting's team was a mature battle team. Qiao Ting was also an exceptional team Captain, which was why they could achieve this kind of result.

The other 24-man team quickly discovered Qiao Ting and the others; however, they didn't try to hide and continued to fly in the same direction. Since they had moved out at this time, they would probably be offensive members and was a team solely for attacking cities.

There was an unspoken rule in the battle royale, and this rule was that a battle would not easily start between offensive teams. Everyone wanted to bring down the opponent's headquarters and gain enough points; thus, these attacking teams would usually have a temporary collaboration and attack another military academy's headquarters together. Unless they met up with a military academy that they had a grudge against, in which case it was possible that they wouldn't see eye to eye and break out in a bloody battle. However, the possibility of this was very small. It would mostly be both sides becoming more careful and both retreating.

Maybe the opposition was thinking the same, which was why they wanted to meet up and see if the two sides have a chance to merge.

The two battle teams were getting closer and closer. Through the team's comms channel, Qiao Ting ordered, "Prepare short-range weapons! Ready for battle!"

Many clicking sounds followed, as every mecha of Qiao Ting's team took out their short-range beam guns from their backs and held them in their hands, readying up and waiting for Qiao Ting's final order.

Finally, the opposition could clearly see the mecha that were coming towards them. He was shaken upon seeing that Qiao Ting was the one leading the team and felt happy. He was surprised that the First Men's Military Academy had sent out Qiao Ting as captain of the attacking team, not worrying about their own headquarters. At the same time, he was also happy. If he could form an alliance with Qiao Ting and attack the base camps that were not that strong, then it would be a sure win. He didn't that his luck would be this good…

The captain leading the group made a request to talk with Qiao Ting. Qiao Ting's lip showed a hint of a cold smirk as he agreed to the captain's request.

"Captain Qiao, we are of the Feihong Military Academy. We don't see you as our enemies. If possible, I would like to talk to you." The opponent's attitude was lowered and his tone was very sincere. If Qiao Ting hadn't already accepted Ling Lan's mission, perhaps he would have agreed to give them a chance.

"What do you want to talk about?" Qiao Ting replied just for show. While the two captains had been conversing, the two teams had drawn nearer to each other.

"I want to talk about the possibility of an alliance." The Feihong Military Academy's captain was slightly anxious. They were, after all, a mid to low class military academy. Would Qiao Ting refuse because he looked down on them?

"An alliance?" Qiao Ting pretended to think about it. The captain of Feihong battle team suddenly felt his heart being pulled up as he nervously waited for Qiao Ting's final answer. Right then, the distance between the two of them had reached the range of short-range beam guns.

Seeing this, Qiao Ting's eyes lit up and he ordered coldly, "Fire!"

The members of Qiao Ting's team, who had already readied their guns, all pulled down on their triggers at Qiao Ting's order. There were 24 guns shooting out 24 illuminating flowers that moved towards the opponents in unison.

"Despicable!" Qiao Ting's team's sudden attack made the Feihong Military Academy's battle team cry out tragically. Although they had thought of taking precautions, the suddenness of Qiao Ting changing from thinking about the alliance in one second, to ruthlessly ordering an attack in the next made them unable to react. There had been no indication at all, which made the Feihong Military Academy's mecha operators unable to react, and they were all hit by the beams shot from the guns of Qiao Ting's battle team.