Chapter 1242 Escape!
"No matter. The trap will come." Ling Lan thought through it more thoroughly than Li Lanfeng. "It is only a matter of time. Moreover, it is better if they could maintain a constant state of high alert."
Li Lanfeng nodded and stopped speaking. The two of them looked intently at the map the mainframe computer showed on the screen and waited for the ambush they had predicted.
After 15 minutes, all of the soldiers on standby were somewhat numb from waiting. Ling Lan suddenly felt something and decisively ordered, "Evade 45 degrees to the right."
In the base's control room, the major who was originally responsible for controls was gone. In his seat was now a weak-looking officer who had an insignia of a senior colonel on his shoulder. He was responsible for the controls at that moment.
After hearing Ling Lan's orders, he calmly moved his arms and moved the large base from its original direction instantly to a 45 degree turn, forcing Base Nebula to go off its original course.
This seemingly easy maneuver was actually not that easy. Even though it was hard to see from his calm expression, there were still veins popping up from his neck when he turned the handle.
Right as Base Nebula moved away from its original course, a white light appeared in the void and brushed past the moving base.
If Ling Lan's orders were slower by a second and the person who controlled the handle wasn't there, then the white light would definitely hit Base Nebula.
The flash of white light came so violently and suddenly. Even though it didn't cause any fatal damage to the base, it still injured the soldiers on the base. There were many injured soldiers on mecha hold, some unlucky soldiers had also died from the impact.
After the white light went past the base, a giant mecha appeared from the void and appeared before Ling Lan.
er was 0.
A simple insignia of a four-leaf clover was on the chest of the mecha along with one on both its arms. These insignias told her where the mecha hailed from.
Ling Lan's original calm stare instantly narrowed. She didn't even think and shouted, "Luo Lang, run as fast as possible."
Ling Lan didn't expect that the Twilight Empire would send a god-class operator to ambush them. If it wasn't her Profound Insight giving her warnings at crucial moments, everyone from Base Nebula might have perished there.
The Four Leaf Clover, if she was not wrong, was the symbol for Twilight Empire's first ranked god-class operator, Lord Jindao. She didn't think the Twilight Empire would actually put her in such high regard, and not only did they send a god-class operator to deal with her, but they also sent the strongest one. They definitely wanted her and Base Nebula to completely disappear from the face of the galaxy.
Originally, she was expecting the opposition to use devious methods to draw her out of her base. Now it seemed, the opposition didn't even consider this issue and only needed to send out a god-class operator to get rid of her and the base at the same time.
Ling Lan realized this oversight was due to their lack of experience. Li Lanfeng and hers predictions for the larger picture were still too simple. They both believed that the opposition would use evil plots against them and try to get them to leave the base or perhaps despicable means to force her to come out.
Reality now taught Ling Lan that other than evil plots, there were also more direct methods. As long as a god-class mecha was sent, the amount of firepower Base Nebula could dish out was negligible.
This flying bunker called the Base Nebula was given the moniker 'tortoise shell'. Additionally, with its weaponry like porcupine spikes all over its surface and its agility that was much higher than starships, even if it was surrounded, it would still be able to use all of its arsenal to create a path of freedom for itself.
However, no matter how strong something was, it still had its mortal enemy. Base Nebula wasn't afraid of anything. However, after encountering the ultimate weapon of a nation, god-class mechas, it could only run for its life.
In the case of god-class mechas, no matter if it was the category of offense, defense or speed, it would be the best of the best in all three categories that existed in this universe. Even if Base Nebula was composed of the Federation's most advanced technology, it would still be considered weaker when compared to god-class mechas.
Ling Lan had piloted a god-class mecha before, so she knew the terror it could bring. This was why Ling Lan's expression changed greatly when she saw the god-class mecha and gave the order to Luo Lang to escape at top speed.
This time, in order to ensure the safety of everyone on the base, Ling Lan arranged for Luo Lang to be responsible for Base Nebula's helm.
The feeling of danger that lingered made Ling Lan carefully consider who should be the person manning the controls of Base Nebula.
In Lingtian Independent Army, all of the brigade leaders and their deputies all were great at piloting. In terms of piloting experience, they were undoubtedly less experienced than the veterans soldiers. However, after thinking for a while, she still gave this important assignment to Luo Lang.
It wasn't because the others couldn't do it, but rather because Ling Lan trusted Luo Lang the most out of everyone. Even Li Lanfeng was not as trustworthy in Ling Lan's mind as Luo Lang.
Of course, that wasn't the only reason why she chose Luo Lang. It was also because of Luo Lang's innate talent. A naive Luo Lang working with the calm personality would definitely not make any grand mistakes or panic from being in such a big crisis.
Once the situation develops into what her premonition told her, reaching a point of no return, only Luo Lang, who had the calm personality, could make the most suitable decisions and get them out of there alive.
This was Ling Lan's final trump card. It was only in preparation for the worst case scenario. She didn't think that she would have to use it from the very beginning.Luo Lang heard Ling Lan's orders. Despite knowing they were in a great crisis, there wasn't any wavering look in his eyes.
His hands began to dance around, which gradually turned into afterimages .Under his control, all of the base's engines revved up. The base then left an afterimage in the dark void of space and vanished from the star system they were in.
Lord Jindao raised his eyebrows in surprise as the sure-hit attack suddenly missed. Before he could recover his giant sword, the huge bunker that was in front of him vanished before him.
"Trying to escape? Heh." Lord Jindao snorted coldly. In the next second, his mecha's engine erupted and he also disappeared from this star system.
Ling Lan's eyes were completely focused on the large virtual screen in front of her. Little Four and Meng Lan were each putting up the angles of video feeds they had collected.
Base Nebula's engines were all at their maximum output, pushing the base to its highest possible speed. However, even though they did that, they still couldn't get rid of Lord Jindao, who was tailing right behind them. As time went by, the distance between the two entities began to shorten. The naked eye probably couldn't see it, but Little Four and Meng Lan existed in a different world. They showed accurate data to let Ling Lan and the others know of the incoming crisis.
A layer of sweat appeared on Li Lanfeng's forehead. The vast gulf between their collective strength and a god-class mecha forced a strategist like him not to have any ideas on what to do.
Ling Lan puckered her lips. Evil plots and traps were only effective when their strengths were equal levels. No amount of traps or plots were useful when the enemy could just use brute force to smash them to pieces.
Chapter 1243 I'm The Most Suitable
"60 degrees to the left," Ling Lan suddenly shouted.
Luo Lang followed Ling Lan's command like a robot and forced the entire base to maneuver to his will.
A beam scrapped the outer metal shell of the base. If the base moved a little slower, the beam would have pierced a hole through it.
Still, the huge force behind the beam caused the entire base to shake violently. Meng Lan activated the alarm of the base before Ling Lan ordered her to. The soldiers were alerted of the potential dangers and they started preparing themselves.
"Master, the right OVR of the base is damaged. The second door has been closed. Please send people to repair it as soon as possible. If not, the integrity of the base might be compromised." Meng Lan reminded Ling Lan that the beam had caused damage to the shell of the base.
Ling Lan frowned. It would be dangerous to send repairmen out to repair the base now.
The damaged part of the base was in bad condition. The oxygen supply equipment there was destroyed. Thus, the repairmen had to wear thick spacesuits to do the repairing work.
Base Nebula was moving at a high speed so the damage was worsened by at least four times. The base still needed to evade more attack from the god-class mecha so the movements of the base were going to be unpredictable which increased the difficulty of repairing work.
If something happened to their protective mechanism, the repairers would be thrown into space. There were two outcomes of this scenario. First outcome, they would slowly suffocate and die after finishing their oxygen supply. Second outcome, they would be discovered by the enemy and killed.
They were in a dire situation now so Ling Lan knew that they wouldn't be able to save the repairmen if they were thrown into space. It would take too long for them to come back after escaping from the god-class mecha. By that time, the oxygen supply of the spacesuits would be depleted.
However, if she didn't send out repairmen, the surface damage of the base would increase due to their high speed. This would affect the structural integrity of their base. The entire base might collapse because of this.
Ling Lan made her decision. She called the logistics department and ordered them to repair the damage.
Ling Lan would be ruthless when she needed to. She wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice some repairmen if it could protect the majority of her men.
"Yes, lieutenant general." The logistics department quickly sent a team of repairmen out after receiving the order.
Ling Lan started multitasking. She kept a close watch on the repairmen while she focused on her Profound Insight. She didn't want to miss any feelings or reminders from her innate talent. She was afraid that a small negligence on her side would cause the destruction of the entire base Nebula.
Luo Lang and Ling Lan cooperated perfectly. Even if their teamwork wasn't perfect, it was close enough. The giving of command and the execution of command was done almost simultaneously. It looked as if the one commanding and the one maneuvering the base was the same person.
Base Nebula managed to evade Lord Jindao's beams but the sudden maneuvers caused one of the repairmen to get thrown into space. He didn't manage to buckle his safety belt in time.
Ling Lan knew of this incident but her face remained expressionless. From the moment she gave the order to send the repairmen out, she became the cold blooded Lieutenant General Ling.
"We can't continue like this," Li Lanfeng said when he noticed that Lord Jindao was getting nearer to the bse.
"What should we do?" Ling Lan didn't turn around. Her eyes were still glued to the screen that showed what was happening outside.
creen
Li Lanfeng didn't answer immediately. He looked at Ling Lan with a complicated expression. In the end, his gaze turned firm.
"Send a mecha brigade to stop him. They will be able to buy us some time." Li Lanfeng finally said his suggestion.
US
His words caused Ling Lan to shift her eyes away from the screen. She glanced at Li Lanfeng who was wearing a stern expression.
She raised her eyebrows. Her gaze was intense. "Who are you planning to send?"
"I'll lead Mecha Brigade 06 to stop him." Li Lanfeng chose himself.
Ling Lan rejected him instantly. "No."
"Why not?" Li Lanfeng asked sincerely.
"You won't be able to defeat Lord Jindao. He will be able to kill all of you with a single attack. These are unnecessary sacrifices. You won't be able to buy much time," Ling Lan replied indifferently. Her tone was resolute.
"Rabbit, you know that if we continue like this, Lord Jindao will catch up with Base Nebula sooner or later. We will all be dead by then. In that case, why can't we take a leap of faith? A miracle might happen." Li Lanfeng suddenly called Ling Lan by her nickname. He hadn't used it for a long time. His emotions seemed to be seeping out of his eyes.
He was willing to die if Ling Lan could remain alive. Maybe this was the best ending for him. Ling Lan wouldn't know of his dirty thoughts. He wouldn't drag Ling Lan to hell just because of his selfish feelings. Ling Lan would be able to lead a happy life with his two wives and climb to the peak of the Federation.
He just hoped that Ling Lan would remember him!
F**K!
Damn it. He was so jealous.
When Li Lanfeng thought about Ling Lan marrying Luo Chao and Han Xuya, his heart bled. He even thought of dying with Ling Lan. That way, he would be the only one by Ling Lan's side in the end.
Ling Lan frowned at Li Lanfeng's words. She suddenly stood up and walked to the door.
"Ling Lan, where are you going?" Li Lanfeng got affected by his negative emotions so he reacted a little slower.Ling Lan was the most important person in his life. The moment she moved, Li Lanfeng threw all his emotions away to the back of his head.
Ling Lan stopped and turned around. "You're right. We can't sit and wait for death. If we take the risk, we might be able to create a miracle."
"…" Li Lanfeng frowned. From his understanding of Ling Lan, he knew what she was thinking. "I don't agree. The base needs you. The people here are waiting for you to bring them home."
"Base Nebula will only be able to escape if we stop Lord Jindao. I'm the best mecha operator here. Thus, I'm the most suitable candidate," Ling Lan replied calmly.
She immediately gave her order. "Li Lanfeng, you'll stay here and be in charge of the base."
"No…" Li Lanfeng wanted to reject Ling Lan but she had already disappeared.
Li Lanfeng gritted his teeth as he stared at the empty room. He contacted the control room and told Xie Yi in a hurried tone, "Xie Yi, come to the command center immediately. You'll take charge of the base from now on."
"Huh?" Xie Yi was stunned when he heard this arrangement.
Chapter 1244 You Took The Wrong Medicine.
Li Lanfeng didn't care about Xie Yi's opinion on the matter. He rushed out of the room hurriedly after giving the order.
At that moment, Ling Lan had already reached the mecha hold. She quickly boarded her mecha.
The logisticians in the mecha hold were shocked and excited to see her. They knew that they were in a dangerous situation when the base kept shaking and jumped around.
As the logisticians of the commander, these veteran logisticians quickly understood why their commander was here. They have been following Ling Lan for a long time as they went through the life-or-death experience on Planet Haijiao.
Just like in the past, their commander always appeared on the frontline during the most dangerous times. He would use his blood to clear a safe path for them.
"Quickly equipped the mecha with the best weapons." The leader of the logisticians controlled his excitement and shouted to his team members.
They were unable to fight with their commander due to their lack of strength but they could prepare the best mecha for him to use. They would equip the mecha with the best weapons they could so that their commander would have a greater chance of survival.
"Yes!" Ling Lan's mecha logisticians quickly proceeded with their jobs at their leader's command.
Normally, the commander's mecha would already be prepared when the command to prepare for battle was given. However, equipping the weapons and recharging the energy was done only after the commander had decided to enter the battle.
Through this, we could see how outstanding the commander's logisticians were. They managed to equip the mecha in 30 seconds. Of course, it was easier to equip Ling Lan's mecha because she only had one set of weapons. Other mechas might have different weapons depending on the type of battle.
Ling Lan boarded her mecha and ejected out of Base Nebula under the guidance of a JMC.
Around ten seconds after Ling Lan was ejected out of the base, Li Lanfeng arrived at the launching port next to Ling Lan's.
Ling Lan stabilised her mecha once she was in space. She floated in space while she waited for Lord Jindao's arrival.
"Master, Li Lanfeng is coming." When Li Lanfeng contacted the JMCs, Meng Lan told Little Four what happened.
Ling Lan was speechless. She frowned and scolded indignantly, "What the hell is he doing?"
Ling Lan knew that she had little chance of surviving a battle with a god-class operator. The difference in ability couldn't be made up with courage and perseverance. Even if Li Lanfeng came, he would just be adding to the death count.
Ling Lan didn't choose to sacrifice herself because she wanted to be a hero or because she couldn't bear to watch her men getting killed.
She knew that staying in the base would only allow her to survive for a few more minutes. Little Four calculated that one minute and three seconds later, Lord Jindao would catch up with base Nebula. Everyone on Base Nebula could only wait for death then.
They had requested for help the moment Lord Jindao appeared but there was no reply from the Federation. After a while, Little Four realised that someone had blocked all signals from reaching or leaving this area. Their distress signal wasn't sent out. Nothing could be sent out. To get out of this blocked zone, they needed four minutes and forty-seven seconds.
However, Lord Jindao would reach them in one minute and three seconds. They had no chance of escaping. What was the point of staying in the base then?
Ling Lan knew that everyone would die if they remained in the base. However, if she sacrificed herself, there might be a chance her men could escape.
Ling Lan wasn't really a cold-blooded or ruthless person. She wouldn't let her subordinates die just because she couldn't live. She wasn't a psychopath. She had her morals. She chose the path that benefited the most people.
'Since there was no way I can live, why not choose the most worthy way of dying?' This was Ling Lan's thought when she decided to fight with Lord Jindao.
Ling Lan chose to risk her life because she knew that she wouldn't be able to escape death. However, Li Lanfeng had the chance to live. Yet, he acted rashly and came to seek death. Ling Lan was so angry she almost vomited blood.
Why couldn't he let her die a valuable death?
"Hurry up and go back." Ling Lan contacted Li Lanfeng immediately before he ejected out of the base.
"Rabbit, I said that I will fight with you." Li Lanfeng was firm. In the next second, his mecha was ejected out of the base.
"You!" Ling Lan was furious. Wasn't Li Lanfeng a selfish person? What happened to him this time? Was there something wrong with his brain? Why did he become so stupid?
Li Lanfeng operated his mecha and flew beside Ling Lan. He smiled and said, "I can't catch up with Base Nebula now." Their mechas weren't god-class mechas. It couldn't travel so fast.
"You took the wrong medicine." Ling Lan took a deep breath and calmed herself down. She knew she couldn't push Li Lanfeng away now
"Yes. I think so too." Li Lanfeng smiled happily. He didn't mind Ling Lan mocking him.
Ling Lan wanted to reply to him but she suddenly sensed danger. "He's here. Move aside. Reinforce me whenever needed."
Li Lanfeng quickly controlled his mecha and retreated. His mecha created a line in space. In an instant, he was a few thousand meters behind Ling Lan.
While Li Lanfeng was moving back, a huge mecha suddenly appeared within Ling Lan's line of sight. Ling Lan immediately pulled the trigger of her long-range beam gun.
A beam shot out. It landed accurately at the place Lord Jindao appeared.
"Huh?" Lord Jindao raised his eyebrows in surprise. The Divine Shield system of his mecha was activated instantly to block the attack.
"Interesting. He managed to accurately predict my position and my speed." Lord Jindao glanced at Base Nebula. Then, he looked at the mecha which shot him. He wanted to see what the mecha looked like. Once he destroyed Base Nebula, he would come back and finish this mecha.
However, a familiar totem entered his view. His expression changed slightly. He stopped his mecha and floated in space.
Chapter 1245 Fight For Their Lives!
"I looked everywhere for you but in the end, you came to me." Lord Jindao spoke to Ling Lan in a broken Federation language.
Ling Lan frowned. As expected, her opponent's target was her.
"Oh? I don't know you. Why are you looking for me?" Ling Lan pretended that she was oblivious about the whole situation.
Lord Jindao didn't reply to her. He immediately aimed his beam gun at her and shot her.
Ling Lan was already on her guard, so when Lord Jindao attacked her, she instantly shifted her mecha to the side. Fortunately, her mecha was a modified imperial mecha made by Chang Xinyuan. Although it couldn't be compared to a god-class mecha, it was the best among all the imperial mechas. Luckily, Lord Jindao was just testing the water with his first attack so Ling Lan managed to evade it precariously.
"Not bad," Lord Jindao commended.
Even in a large nation like the Federation, outstanding talents couldn't be found so easily. Lord Jindao couldn't help but feel envious of the Federation to have a monster like Ling Xiao and Ling Lan. Because of Ling Xiao killing their youngest god-class mecha operator, the succession of god-class operators in Twilight had been disrupted. He didn't know when the next god-class operator would appear.
The envious feeling only lasted for a few seconds as his gaze swiftly turned malicious. As long as their plan worked, the Twilight Empire would grow from their ashes of their past glory and rise in status. It would no longer be a middle-class nation. They would become a top-class nation like Caesar and Huaxia.
Lord Jindao grabbed the handle of his beam sword and activated it. A long beam was ejected from the handle. Lord Jindao slashed the beam sword in front of him.
"The energy of his beam sword is too strong. My beam sword will be destroyed if I parry it. Evade!" Ling Lan quickly analysed the situation and arrived at a conclusion. She could only evade the beam sword.
Her Profound Insight was very helpful in such situations. It hinted at the best route to evade the moment Lord Jindao slashed his sword. However, the speed of an imperial mecha was much slower than a god-class mecha. Even if Ling Lan moved her mecha instantly, she wouldn't be able to retreat out of the affective range of the light beam. Her mecha would still get hit by the residual force of the attack.
Ling Lan felt that the residual force was enough to damage her body and mecha heavily.
Although there was only a difference of one level between her and her opponent, but in reality, the difference between the two levels was as vast as an ocean. Luck wouldn't be able to help her this time.
Pop! Pop! Popping sounds started to come out of the engine. This meant that the engine was overloaded. Ling Lan was someone who wouldn't give up even if there was no hope. She would give it her all and try to find any chance of survival.
Bang! A white ray pierced through the dark space. It was aimed at Lord Jindao's right arm.
"Cheap tricks." Lord Jindao sneered. He activated his Divine Shield system and continued to slash his sword down.
Before the white ray could reach the mecha, a colorful rainbow sheen appeared in front and seemingly devoured the white ray whole.
The beam sword slashed at Ling Lan.
"Huh?" Lord Jindao thought that his attack was successful but instead, he stuck the air.
He gasped in surprise.
He recalled what happened just now and was enlightened. "So that's what happened."
He looked at Li Lanfeng who was sniping in a faraway location. He turned serious. "There are more talents in the Federation than I expected, but just a talented long-range sniper won't stop me. He shot just to activate my Divine Shield system. When the Divine Shield system was activated, energy used had a low probability to cause my arm to slow down a little. The chance of that happening is so miniscule but he still took the bet. How lucky."
Lord Jindao retracted his gaze slowly. He turned and looked at Ling Lan who was already a kilometer away from him. He didn't dare to underestimate these imperial operators anymore.
Li Lanfeng's attack caught him off guard by surprise and slowed his speed a little but even so, Ling Lan shouldn't be able to evade his sword at all. Yet, she did it. This was most likely due to her frightening reaction speed and hand speed. Without any doubt, Ling Lan's hand speed was close to that of a god-class operator. If she was given the time to grow, she might become the next god-class operator of the Federation.
"That Immortal Bird is so irritating. He's already very powerful but his son is catching up with him. What an unfair world. Why is the Ling family so lucky?" Lord Jindao's jealousy towards Ling Xiao got even stronger. At first, he was killing Ling Lan just because he was obligated to. However, his desire to kill Ling Lan was overwhelming now. He knew that Ling Xiao's son was only 24 years old. He had a bright future ahead of him. If he was given enough time, he would most definitely become a god-class operator.
Twilight would never allow the Federation to gain another god-class operator. Lord Jindao decided that he would kill Ling Xiao's son today no matter what.
Lord Jindao raised his beam sword. Even if Ling Lan was a kilometer away from him, she still felt an unprecedented sense of crisis. This feeling was even stronger than the time when a bunch of domain realm masters attempted to assassinate her. Her heart was filled with dread. This strong negative emotion caused Ling Lan to waver. She bit her lips and used the pain to calm herself down. Despite her quick recovery, her clothes were already drenched with cold sweat.
It was fortunate that Ling Lan was experienced in life-or-death situations. These experiences allowed her to remain calm under the oppression of a god-class operator. An inexperienced person might have lost all hope and give up retaliating by now.
Even Li Lanfeng, who was a few kilometers away, felt the oppressive force of presence from Lord Jindao. He shivered and his limbs turned cold. Cold sweat formed on his forehead.
Smack!
Li Lanfeng slapped himself on his cheek. He used so much force that his cheek turned swollen. He even hurt his gum. Blood dripped down the side of his mouth.
"You lack a beating," Li Lanfeng mocked himself. The pain from the slap allowed him to break free from Lord Jindao's force of presence temporarily. He controlled his mecha again and aimed his beam gun at Lord Jindao.
Li Lanfeng knew that the next attack would be the most dangerous moment for Ling Lan. If Ling Lan couldn't evade it, she would be killed.
It was time to fight for their lives.
Chapter 1246 Twilight's Plan!
"General, this is the latest update on the whereabouts of the three god-class operators from Twilight." He Xuyang handed over the report to Ling Xiao.
Ling Xiao looked through it quickly. He suddenly frowned.
"What's the matter?" He Xuyang could tell that there was something amiss through Ling Xiao's expression.
"This person isn't Lord Jindao," Ling Xiao pointed to one of the pictures and said confidently.
He Xuyang looked at Lord Jindao's data. However, he didn't notice anything wrong with it. "This person is Lord Jindao. There's no difference in his voice to his looks."
Ling Xiao shook his head. "You don't understand. A god-class operator has an aura that only another god-class operator can detect. This person doesn't have the aura of Lord Jindao."
Ling Xiao thought for a moment before saying, "Give me all the data on Lord Jindao. I want to inspect them carefully."
"Yes." He Xuyang quickly gathered all the information about Lord Jindao from the moment he appeared on the battlefield.
Ling Xiao looked through them carefully. He stopped at the video that was taken three days ago and said, "Lord Jindao was swapped on this day."
He Xuyang looked at the video and compared it with the other photos and video of Lord Jindao. His mind was in a whirl. Sob, he couldn't see what the difference was. Was it time for him to retire?
"It's not your fault. Only god-class operators will be able to detect the swap. That's why our intelligence bureau didn't notice it too." Ling Xiao frowned.
"Where is Lord Jindao then?" He Xuyang was
puzzled.
"Twilight must have a plan up their sleeve. What do they want to do?"
"Xuyang, point out the positions of our divisions in Twilight on the map," Ling Xiao ordered after pondering for a few seconds.
"Yes." He Xuyang quickly found the map of Twilight in the optical supercomputer and pinned the locations of their divisions on it.
"The 13th division and the 4th division are around Qiaolang. There are four god-class operators stationed there. The 7th division has occupied Base Beiye. They're using it as their base now. There is one god-class operator stationed there. However, three independent armies will be reinforcing them soon. Two god-class operators from our alliance nations will be arriving there too."
He Xuyang looked worried as he continued, "The 23rd division only has one god-class operator, you. Our combat ability is a little weak. Thus, we're in a more dangerous position."
He was Ling Xiao's confidant so he knew that Ling Xiao wouldn't be angered or misunderstand him. He just reminded Ling Xiao because he was worried about him.
"I know. However, we're in a difficult position. Twilight and its alliance nations don't dare to act rashly because they don't know where we are. My absence will lighten the burden on the two main battlefields." Ling Xiao felt helpless too. He attacked Twilight's planets randomly because he couldn't sneak into the capital planet. Twilight guarded their wormholes too heavily. It was a matter of patience now.
"But they are looking for you. You're the main target of Twilight." He Xuyang knew that the people from Twilight hated Ling Xiao because he destroyed many of their planets. Ling Xiao was the person they wanted to kill the most. If they discovered the 23rd division, they would definitely go all out to attack them.
This was why the 23rd division had to go into hiding.
"Is Lord Jindao looking for us?" He Xuyang had a sudden thought.
"That is possible." This was Ling Xiao's first thought too.
"However, we are in a satellite base that has been abandoned for many years. Our researcher found out that this base has been abandoned for more than a thousand years. If we didn't find it by coincidence, we wouldn't have known that there's a wormhole that leads to here. Moreover, this wormhole wasn't built by Twilight… but if Caesar is really ambitious." He Xuyang was puzzled. "Unless Caesar kept a record of this wormhole and reminded Twilight about it, they won't be able to find us."
All the starships were resting at this moment. (Belief] was the one guarding the perimeter. Everyone knew how frighteningly powerful (Belief] was. If (Belief] didn't alert them, it meant that they were safe.
Ling Xiao wanted to say something but he felt a sudden pain in his heart. His expression changed instantly. He closed his eyes and made some calculations.
"Where is the Lingtian Independent Army?" Ling Xiao's face was slightly pale. He suddenly felt a strong sense of danger around his daughter.
He Xuyang understood Ling Xiao's anxiousness. His face turned white as he hurriedly replied, "I'll check immediately."
His hands were trembling as he looked through the optical supercomputer.
"General, an hour ago, Young Master Lan entered the Qingri wormhole with Base Nebula." He Xuyang's lips were shaking as he talked. He knew that Lord Jindao's target was most probably Ling Lan.His trained nerves of steel allowed him to finish his sentence properly. If he didn't have a strong mentality, he might not be able to open his mouth due to his anxiousness and fear.
"Damn it!" Ling Xiao stood up abruptly. His force of presence leaked out unconsciously. He Xuyang was forced to the ground by the pressure. Blood flowed out of his mouth.
"I'm sorry. I lost control of myself." Ling Xiao forced himself to remain calm.
"It's alright." He Xuyang picked himself from the ground. He wiped the blood off his mouth.
"Xuyang, I need to go to the Qingri wormhole." Ling Xiao made his decision.
"General! You can't go!" He Xuyang exclaimed in astonishment.
Ling Xiao looked at He Xuyang silently. He Xuyang coughed out blood. He bore with the pain from his internal injuries and told Ling Xiao his prediction, "By right, there's no need to send a god-class operator to kill Young Master Lan. They're still in war with Qi Yaoyang so once he discovers their plan, he might launch a full-force assault on Twilight. Twilight only has three god-class operators. They're not our match. Qiaolang will become our territory. Twilight knew the risk but they still chose to send Lord Jindao to chase after Young Master Lan. Why are they willing to take the risk? Young Master Lan is not important enough for them to do this. There is only one reason. They wanted to lure you out with Young Master Lan."
"I know," Ling Xiao replied calmly. When he guessed that Lord Jindao's target was Ling Lan, he had seen through Twilight's plan.
Chapter 1247 Little Seven!
"But, I still have to go." Ling Xiao's gaze was resolute. "That is my child. As a father, I must save him."
"General!" He Xuyang understood Ling Xiao's decision but as the chief of staff of the 23rd division and as Ling Xiao's confidant, he couldn't let Ling Xiao be in any danger. Even if it was for Young Master Lan, he wouldn't allow it.
To He Xuyang, Ling Xiao was the most important person in the whole Federation. He was much more important than Young Master Lan.
"You're a god-class operator of the Federation. You're the commander-in-chief of the ongoing war. You're the general of the 23rd division. If something happens to you, the Federation, the entire army, and the 23rd division will all be affected. Please reconsider your decision," He Xuyang persuaded.
"Xuyang, you think too highly of me. The Federation will still be able to stand tall even after I'm gone. Qi Yaoyang will be able to take over the position as the commander-in-chief. Without me, he will still be able to lead them to victory. I only feel sorry for the soldiers of the 23rd division. My stubbornness placed them in danger. However, I believe that you will be able to protect them. Hence, I'll pass the 23rd division to you." Ling Xiao held He Xuyang's shoulders firmly. He passed his responsibility to this capable subordinate whom he trusted with his whole heart.
Ling Xiao trusted He Xuyang more than the friends he made when he was young. He had disappeared for 17 years. Thus, when he came back, he didn't dare to even believe in his old friends.
"General, I reject the order. Without you, I won't be able to bring the 23rd division back safely. You're Young Master Lan's father but you're the father of the 23rd division too. You can't bear letting Young Master Lan get hurt but what about the millions of soldiers in the 23rd division?" He Xuyang couldn't control his anger and he questioned Ling Xiao furiously.
He only had one thought in his mind. He needed to prevent the general from leaving. He mustn't let him jump into the trap even though he knew how dangerous it was.
"You're right. I'm not a good general." Ling Xiao's expression turned sorrowful. "I'm not impartial. I can't give up my family for the nation. My heart is small. I can only hold my wife and my child. I can only bother about everything else if they're safe. The Federation, the 23rd division, they all come after my family. This is the real me. I'm just a normal person who cares about his family before the nation."
"Xuyang, I disappoint you." Ling Xiao smiled bitterly.
"General, can't you it is a trap." He Xuyang shook his head. "Even if you go, you might not be able to save Young Master Lan. You might even be killed in the process. Is this worth it? Yes, you can't let go of Young Master Lan but what about your wife? How can you bear to let her lose two of her loved ones at once?"
"Xuyang, that will never happen," Ling Xiao shouted loudly. He continued in a firm tone, "I will bring Ling Lan back. I will never let Ling Lan die there. This is my promise as a father."
"General…" He Xuyang managed to calm down due to Ling Xiao's shout. He felt bitter. He could see the resolution in Ling Xiao's eyes. No one would be able to change his decision. Even if Lan Luofeng came, it would be useless too.
"Xuyang… if… I'll hand the 23rd division over to you." Ling Xiao hesitated for a while before saying
His instinct told him it would be very dangerous. He didn't know if he could make it out alive. He had to plan for the worst.
Ling Xiao went to the mecha hold and boarded (Belief). When his cockpit closed, he let out a cold smile.
"This time, I lost. I can't be as heartless as you. However, if I come back alive, I'll make you pay the price for it, Great Marshal Lan."
The mecha's engine roared. [Belief] flew out of the command ship in an instant and disappeared in the universe.
He Xuyang stared at the big screen as he watched Ling Xiao leaving on (Belief). Many thoughts went through his head. Finally, he stood up and pressed a button. "This is the latest command. All soldiers of the 23rd division, please prepare to move out. We'll be leaving for the Qingri wormhole in 10 minutes."
The entire 23rd division got busy.
He Xuyang looked into the space and muttered to himself, "General, I'm sorry. I'm not a good adviser too. I can't just sit and let you be in danger. Let me fight together with you. I believe that we will be able to survive it together."
In the control room of a Destruction Devil, the optical supercomputer of the starship chatted with its captain as it warmed up the ship. It asked curiously, "General Ling Xiao has already left. Why are we leaving so late?"
The captain was a middle-aged major general. He patiently explained, "The starships need time to warm up. The soldiers need time to prepare too. Ten minutes is reasonable." The major general sounded as though he was talking to a friend instead of a computer.
"I understand." The lines on the optical supercomputer moved as though it was nodding
"7th Bugle, when will you call me father?" The captain suddenly asked. He took a lot of effort to raise this cute mainframe.
"My name is Little Seven, not 7th Bugle." The optical supercomputer suddenly became agitated.
"You came from the 7th Bugle Call. Shouldn't your name be 7th Bugle?" The captain pouted."My name is Little Seven. My boss is… hmph, I'm not talking to you anymore," Little Seven snorted.
"Who is your boss? You never answer me whenever I ask you this question." The captain wanted to probe further but the angry mainframe ignored him.
"Fine, I won't ask you anymore. Little Seven, why can't you call me father?" The captain suddenly turned depressed. "I endured so much hardships to raise you. Is it too much to ask you to call me father?"
"Hmph, I'll cut ties with you now." This sentence appeared on the virtual screen. This showed that the mainframe was still angry.
"You little fellow. I see that you're really angry." The captain knew that he wouldn't succeed so he gave up.
At this moment, the door opened and a senior colonel walked in. "Tian Fang, are you still chatting with your little mainframe?"
"Luo Yang, what's the matter?" Tian Fang turned serious.
Captain Tian Fang and Adviser Luo Yang were the ones who fetched Ling Lan from the military academy in the past. After gaining many merits under the wings of General Ling Xiao, both their ranks had risen significantly.
Chapter 1248 There's Only One Possibility!
"We are leaving ten minutes after the general left. This isn't the general's style." Luo Yang was worried.
"Something urgent must have happened. But, we just need to listen to commands and be ready for battle." Tian Fang didn't care about the details. Ever since they snuck into the depth of Twilight's planetary sector, he was prepared for tough times. However, their general planned everything smoothly for them. They didn't suffer much so far.
But, guerrilla warfare was just the beginning. If they wanted to end the war with Twilight, they would need to fight a hard battle.
Luo Yang had the same guess. "It looks like we'll be fighting soon."
"It's about time," Tian Fang looked up as he replied calmly.
The longer the war dragged, the worse it was for the Federation. Many nations had started joining the war. Once Caesar decided to enter, it would become a full-scale intergalactic war. Then, the Federation would have to handle even more stress and pressure. The results were uncertain.
In Base Nebula, Luo Lang focused on maneuvering the base outside of the wormhole. He didn't notice that Xie Yi had left.
"Meng Lan, how far away is our enemy?" The calm personality asked. He needed to know the exact position of their opponent so that he could find the best escape route.
"30 planet miles away," Meng Lan replied immediately.
"Huh?" The calm personality was surprised. A few seconds ago, their enemy was 20 planet miles away. The distance between them should be getting closer as time went by. Why did it become further?
"Ling Lan went to stop him." Meng Lan knew that Luo Lang was puzzled so she explained to him.
"How can he do that?" Luo Lang shouted agitatedly. The calmness in his eyes had disappeared. The primary personality came back in an instant once he heard this piece of
news.
"Keep calm. Ling Lan hopes that you can guide Base Nebula out of this no-signal zone," Meng Lan repeated Ling Lan's order calmly.
"How can I remain calm? That's a god-class mecha. Boss won't be his match. There's no way he will be able to survive." Luo Lang unbuckled his safety belt and stood up.
Before Luo Lang unbuckled his safety belt, Meng Lan took over the piloting of the base. Base Nebula continued moving forward stably at a high speed.
"Luo Lang, calm down." The calm personality reprimanded the primary personality.
Luo Lang suddenly felt his mind clearing up.
"I'm sorry. I lost control of my emotions." Luo Lang apologised to Meng Lan.
"It's alright." Meng Lan replied indifferently, "I understand your feelings. I'm worried too."
"Meng Lan, I'll leave Base Nebula in your hands." Luo Lang had made his decision.
"What do you want to do?" Meng Lan frowned on the virtual screen.
"I can't let Boss fight alone." Luo Lang walked towards the door as he said, "I want to fight with him."
"If Ling Lan can't defeat the opponent, neither will you. Major General Li had already gone to reinforce Ling Lan." This was the first time Meng Lan spoke in an angry tone.
She didn't approve of Ling Lan's decision but the coding of her main chip meant that she couldn't disobey her master. Thus, she had no choice but to watch Ling Lan quietly as she left Base Nebula. She let Major General Li out because she was worried about her master. However, after she regained her composure, she knew that letting Major General Li out was a wrong decision.
Meng Lan knew that Ling Lan wanted everyone in the base, including the clones of Little Four, Little Blossom, and her, to escape death. That was why Ling Lan went to stop their enemy. She couldn't let Ling Lan's sacrifice go to waste just because of Luo Lang's reckless decision.
Luo Lang entered the passcode to the door. However, the main door didn't open. The entire base was controlled by Meng Lan. If Meng Lan didn't allow Luo Lang to leave, he wouldn't be able to.
"Meng Lan." Luo Lang immediately realised who was behind this.
"Master ordered you to control the base and escape from this no-signal zone," Meng Lan said calmly.
"Without me, you can do this too. I might not be strong enough but having more reinforcements is better than none." Luo Lang was furious.
"If master can't stop the god-class mecha, you won't be of much help too. I can't send you to your death." Meng Lan remained firm."I know I won't be of much help. However, I can block the lethal blow for Boss. It might be able to buy him some time so that he can wait for reinforcements. I just want to increase Boss's chance of survival. Why can't I do that?" Luo Lang was in agony. He hated himself for being so useless. If they were god-class operators, Boss wouldn't have to sacrifice himself to let them live.
In the end, they were still too weak.
Luo Lang was a proud person. Under Ling Lan's guidance, he became an imperial operator at a very young age. He was more powerful than most of the talents in the Federation. Sometimes, he would feel very arrogant. He might not be as strong as physically fit people like Qi Long but most of his comrades wouldn't be able to suppress him easily.
Luo Lang felt that he might not be able to become a god-class operator based on his talent but he could definitely become one of the strongest imperial operators as long as he listened to Boss.
Yet, now, being an imperial operator wasn't able to satisfy him. He hoped that in the future, Boss wouldn't have to stand in front of them to protect them anymore. He wished that one day, he could be the one standing in front of Boss and clearing the safe path for him.
Meng Lan turned silent. One second later, the main door opened automatically. Meng Lan had made her decision. Her emotions won.
"Thank you." Luo Lang rushed out immediately.
"I hope I won't regret this decision," Meng Lan muttered to herself. Then, her virtual image disappeared in the control room.
Chapter 1249 Run!
Xie Yi noticed Luo Lang's movement.
"Luo Lang, where are you going?" Xie Yi quickly called out Luo Lang when he noticed that Luo Lang was heading for the mecha hold.
"To help Boss." Luo Lang didn't hide the truth from his best friend.
"Are you crazy?" Xie Yi knew that Ling Lan had little chance of surviving a battle with a god-class mecha master. However, he still hoped that Boss would be able to last until they rushed out of this no-signal zone and sent the request for reinforcements.
"I'm not crazy. I can't let Boss fight alone." Luo Lang had already reached the mecha hold.
"Meng Lan. Meng Lan." Xie Yi was anxious. He couldn't let Luo Lang die.
"What is your command, Senior Colonel Xie?" Meng Lan appeared in front of him.
"Don't let Luo Lang out," Xie Yi ordered.
"I'm sorry. Senior Colonel Luo has already requested for battle. Unless an officer with a higher rank than him overrides his request, I can't cancel it," Meng Lan replied emotionlessly. She couldn't tell Xie Yi that she got convinced by Luo Lang.
"Damn it. How are we going to find a major general now?" The major generals of Lingtian were either deployed for other missions or had already gone to look for Boss. Of course, he could look for Commander Yu but he might take the chance to control the base.
They were already in a dangerous position. Xie Yi didn't dare to take the bet. Even if he found Commander Yu, Meng Lan might not listen to him.
"F**k." Xie Yi pressed a button and contacted Lin Zhong-qing. "Zhong-qing, you take control of the base from now on."
The entire logistics department was on standby so Lin Zhong-qing was shocked to hear the order. "What happened?"
"Luo Lang and I will go and help Boss." Xie Yi wouldn't let Luo Lang go alone. If Luo Lang must go, he must go with him.
Lin Zhong-qing remained silent for a moment. "I understand. Leave the base to me. Be careful. Please bring Boss back."
Xie Yi replied earnestly, "We will do our best."
"I'll leave Boss to you then." Lin Zhong-qing hung up the call. He clenched his fist as the feeling regret flooded his mind.
When he gave up mecha operation and chose to become a logistician that year, he knew that he would never be able to fight alongside Boss. He was prepared for such a situation but when the situation came to be, he still felt hurt. He was furious at how useless he was.
If he could help Boss on the battlefield as well as off the battlefield, how great would that be?
"I'm still too weak. If there's a chance, I won't let them leave me behind again." Lin Zhong-qing gathered his spirit and took over the base.
Fortunately, Ling Lan had taught all the higher authorities of the Lingtian Independent Army how they should take over the command of the base in case a sudden situation arose, preventing Lingtian from becoming a mess. However, the higher authorities suddenly gained the habit of throwing responsibilities to another person while running off to the battlefield.
Due to this happening, Lin Zhong-qing yearned to become stronger so that he wouldn't be left behind by his comrades again.
Xie Yi caught up with Luo Lang and they ejected out of the base together. The two ace modified mechas shot through the universe, forming a silver line in space. They flew towards Ling Lan quickly.
At this moment, Ling Lan was in a dire situation. Lord Jindao had raised his sword above his head.
Lord Jindao's actions were slow but the spiritual stress caused by his frightening force of presence made his attack more powerful than swift attacks.
When he felt that he had applied enough mental pressure on Ling Lan, he waved his sword down.
At the same time, Li Lanfeng and Ling Lan's fingers moved furiously. Their hand speed exceeded their limit again.
Bang! A beam landed accurately on the beam sword.
If Lord Jindao wasn't a god-class mecha, his sword might have fallen out of his hand.
Lord Jindao grabbed his sword firmly and attacked Ling Lan. He wasn't influenced by the beam.
Suddenly, Ling Lan's mecha started dancing weirdly. It formed lingering shadows in space.
The sword slashed through the lingering shadows.
Swish!
Lord Jindao smiled. From the feedback by his mecha, he had hit his opponent.
He was surprised that the sniping mecha operator wasn't affected by his force of presence and managed to shoot him accurately. However, in the end, his resistance was futile.Li Lanfeng panicked when he saw Ling Lan getting hit. He screamed in agony, "Ling Lan!"
"Run!" Suddenly, a mecha appeared beside him. It was Ling Lan's imperial mecha. One of its arms had been chopped off.
Ling Lan flew in the other direction the moment she finished speaking.
At first, she thought that she would die under the sword. However, Li Lanfeng's interference gave her hope. Her Profound Insight found a route of escape for her and she grabbed the opportunity tightly. In spite of this, she still lost one of her mecha's arms.
Li Lanfeng was elated that Ling Lan was fine. He instantly ran away with Ling Lan.
"Lanfeng, let's split up." Ling Lan knew that Lord Jindao's target was her. If Li Lanfeng followed her, he would be killed too.
"Don't mind about me," Li Lanfeng replied calmly. He had already decided to protect Ling Lan at all costs. If Lord Jindao wanted to kill Ling Lan, he must kill him first.
Lord Jindao was fuming when he realised that Ling Lan managed to escape. At first, he wasn't serious so it was fine that Ling Lan had escaped. This time, he treated Ling Lan like a real opponent and attacked him with all his might. Yet, he still managed to escape. Lord Jindao felt humiliated.
Chapter 1250 Too Late?
"Go and die!" Lord Jindao shouted. He moved forward and appeared behind Li Lanfeng and Ling Lan in an instant.
This was how fast a god-class mecha could be. With the help of their powerful engines and an endless supply of energy, god-class mechas were able to move even faster than battleships.
Li Lanfeng turned around and a flash of white light was seen. A huge sword stabbed towards Lord Jindao's cockpit.
Li Lanfeng had a beam sword in his hand. The beam sword wasn't activated just now so only the handle could be seen. He only activated it when he turned around.
He knew that this sneak attack might cost him his life. He only hoped that he could waste some time so that Ling Lan was able to escape further away.
"You're looking for death." Lord Jindao scoffed. Although this attack was unexpected, he wasn't afraid. Due to the distance between the mechas and low intensity beam sword when compared to his own, it wouldn't even touch his cockpit, his Divine Shield would block the sword before it even got near it.
The beam sword flew towards the cockpit. Rainbow lights were seen and the impact of the sword was neutralized. Lord Jindao wanted to get rid of Li Lanfeng but he noticed that Li Lanfeng's mecha was attempting to collide with him.
"Self-destruct?"
This was the only answer Lord Jindao had for Li Lanfeng's abnormal actions. Li Lanfeng wanted to hold him back by self-destructing.
Lord Jindao was confident in the defensive capabilities of his Divine Shield system but he chose to be careful and dodge the move.
He wasted one second on this chase but it wouldn't change the overall outcome. At most, Ling Lan would just be able to live a few seconds longer.
Lord Jindao titled his body and evaded Li Lanfeng's mecha. He thought that Li Lanfeng would continue moving forward due to inertia so he slashed his sword in that direction.
Once the sword hit Li Lanfeng, he would be dead.
Lord Jindao, once again, felt that he would succeed. Yet, Li Lanfeng's mecha twisted its body when it was about to reach Lord Jindao. This move went against the laws of motion. Li Lanfeng moved in an angle no one expected.
This was a mecha technique from Mandora –Ghost Walk. Ling Lan taught her comrades this technique many years ago, and Li Lanfeng was her best student. This might be because Li Lanfeng was good at scheming as Ghost Walk required much thought to execute. It would allow you to appear anywhere you wanted so you had to analyse the direction that your opponent least expected you to move to in order to release the full potential of the technique.
Thus, Li Lanfeng managed to dodge the fatal attack. Of course, he was very lucky in that situation as Lord Jindao wasn't really focused on attacking him. If he actually did concentrate on finishing Li Lanfeng, he would be able to change the trajectory of his sword in a split second and break Li Lanfeng's Ghost Walk. This was the power of a god-class operator.
Lord Jindao was infuriated by his failures. These youngsters whom he looked down on escaped from him again and again.
He finally turned serious. He took a step and came beside Li Lanfeng.
Li Lanfeng felt a flash of white in front of him. He knew he couldn't evade it. He would die the next second
However, he still didn't give up. As someone who wanted to defy heaven, how could he give up so easily?
Li Lanfeng gritted his teeth and pulled the engine control stick with his right hand. Since his spiritual power was very powerful, when he was in full focus, he managed to break the speed limit of an imperial mecha and retreated in a blink of an eye.
"Bang!" A white light hit Lord Jindao's beam sword.
The force in this beam was much greater than Li Lanfeng's beam, causing the beam sword to stop in mid-air for a moment. This pause could be noticed by the naked eye.
It was still this beam that allowed Li Lanfeng to come back from the gates of hell.
Lord Jindao turned and saw Ling Lan. He said indifferently, "I didn't expect you to have the courage to come back."
She knew there was a chance of escaping but she still came back to fight with his comrade. Lord Jindao didn't know if he should commend Ling Lan for her fearlessness or should he laughed at her stupidity.
Ling Lan didn't reply to him. She just aimed her beam gun at Lord Jindao.
Lord Jindao wasn't expecting a reply too. He started attacking Li Lanfeng again after he finished speaking.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Ling Lan pulled the trigger and fired multiple beams at Lord Jindao.
Li Lanfeng and Ling Lan's positions were swapped. Ling Lan became the one covering up for Li Lanfeng while he engaged in close combat.
Just as the beams were about to hit Lord Jindao, the space around Lord Jindao became distorted. The next second, he appeared beside Ling Lan.
This was another god-class technique– Divine Shift. Lord Jindao's target had always been Ling Lan.
Ling Lan knew what Lord Jindao's intention was. She quickly moved her mecha back while firing her beam gun at him. She wanted to slow his pursuit.
Lord Jindao evaded the beams easily. He raised his sword again with the intention to finish Ling Lan in a single blow. Li Lanfeng shot with his long-range beam gun and a loud explosion was heard. A powerful beam flew towards Lord Jindao.
Lord Jindao wasn't afraid of Li Lanfeng since the beginning of the tussle. Hence, he ignored the incoming beam and continued his attack.
Suddenly, two beams appeared from his right and left respectively.
The Divine Shield system was activated again and blocked the three beams. The new reinforcements didn't have much of an effect. Or rather, it didn't have any effect at all. Lord Jindao aimed his sword at Ling Lan. He blocked all her routes of escape.
"Die." Lord Jindao shouted. Ling Xiao would start repaying all his debts to Twilight, starting with the life of his son.
An ear-shattering sound was heard. Sparks ignited due to the friction between Ling Lan's mecha and the beam sword.
"Boss!" Luo Lang shouted in terror. Were they too late?
Chapter 1251 Number Three?
After the sparks disappeared, Ling Lan's mecha disappeared from its original spot and appeared a kilometer away. At that moment, her mecha was somewhat mutilated. The outer shell on one side of her mecha was completely stripped off, revealing the countless circuits and parts inside the mecha.
Despite looking terrible, Ling Lan still managed to get out alive and didn't die by the sword of Lord Jindao.
"Boss," Luo Lang instantly shouted out happily when he saw Ling Lan was fine.
"What just happened?" Lord Jindao looked at Ling Lan, who was now a kilometer away from him, with confusion. The sword slash just now, no matter the speed or angle, should definitely have killed Ling Lan. How could Ling Lan dodge it? Was he no longer an imperial operator and had entered into the realm of god-class?
This possibility entered Lord Jindao's mind but he furiously shook his head to get rid of those wild thoughts. Just from how Ling Lan evaded him from before, it showed that he was still in the realm of imperial level and was at most at the highest peak of the imperial level. There were still two or three steps left before he would break through the imperial level and enter the god-class. He definitely couldn't suddenly advance into god-class in such a short amount of time.
If imperial operators could easily skip those three steps and advance, then the Twilight Empire wouldn't only have three god-class operators in the past two centuries.
God-class operators not only needed to accumulate experience, but it also required them to obtain the 'feel' of advancing. Moreover, they would also need a certain element of luck mixed into their advancement. The 'feel' and the luck of it all were the hardest things to acquire for an imperial operator who wished to advance. Many imperial operators might not even advance in their entire lifetime due to their lack of these two factors.
If his opponent wasn't a god-class operator, then how could he have a method to avoid his sure-kill attack? Lord Jindao was confused, but couldn't find an answer to explain the situation.
"Ling Lan, focus." Ling Lan's consciousness was somewhat wispy. While she was still in that groggy state, she was woken up by a deep yet crisp voice.
"Hmm? Instructor Number Three?" Ling Lan shook her head and got rid of the groggy feeling out of her head and forced herself to fully awake.
"Yes, your body is now temporarily under my control. I originally thought my presence would force your consciousness back to the learning space to rest in order to deal with the feedback of your body becoming possessed. However, Number Two said your spiritual energy has grown vast enough to fight against the feedback so you won't need to go back to the learning space. Now, I hope you can stay focused and carefully watch how I pilot a mecha," said Instructor Number Three with a serious tone in his voice.
"Okay," Ling Lan said solemnly.
In reality, her choice to fight was made mostly because she felt that if she was unable to hold out against her opponents, her instructors would come out and aid her. However, she wasn't 100% sure of her intuition so she could only bet on it.
Now that an instructor came out just like she had hoped and had also brought out a surprise alongside him, she was quite elated. Ling Lan didn't know that she didn't need to go unconscious during the possession. She could experience Instructor Number Three's fabled mecha piloting first hand. It should be known that back then in the Central Scout Academy, Instructor Number Five was the one possessing her when she was completely unconscious.
She didn't expect that increasing her spiritual power had such great benefits. Ling Lan somewhat rejoiced that back then she wasn't scared to death by the spiritual training method that was torturous and was an unspeakable horror. After many years of self torture, it brought about countless benefits for her in the end.
Ling knew very well that Instructor Number Three's mecha piloting was very strong. However, she was still curious as to who would be stronger between Instructor Number Three and a full-blown god-class operator. Whatever the outcome was, it was a great opportunity for her to be able to personally experience two godly warriors battle out with mechas.
Ling Lan had long realized she had reached a bottleneck. This bottleneck wasn't the bottleneck between imperial level and god level, but rather the natural limit of her female body. Despite her using many different methods to train and expand her strength, forcibly increasing this limit by many levels, she still couldn't overcome the said bottleneck.
Ling Lan knew very well that if she didn't resolve this issue, she would never have a chance of reaching god-class. This wasn't a matter of not having enough luck nor having enough experience, but rather because of the limits of her own body. For example, if a female body was like a bottle could hold a certain amount of liquid, and to advance god-class, it needed more water than what the bottle could contain. Since there was such a limit, how would she advance to god-class?
Maybe after personally experiencing how god-class operators operated, she thought she could maybe find a way to resolve the issue of her body's limits. Why does she think so… Well, it was because her Profound Insight had told her. Ling Lan trusted her innate talent of Profound Insight with unwavering trust.
Right as Ling Lan and Instructor Number Three finished their conversation, Lord Jindao held up his sword and attacked once again.
After many failed attempts, Lord Jindao's killing intent began to leak out of his body. If he didn't kill Ling Lan today, Ling Lan might perhaps grow into a thorn in his heart which would inhibit him from improving any further, unless he personally got rid of this thorn through a fated meeting. Otherwise, he would never be able to enter that dream-like world of gods that all god-class operators dreamt to reach.
Lord Jindao felt his emotions were starting to get the better of him, and he knew something was wrong. This was why Lord Jindao made the decision to follow and kill Ling Lan no matter what.
After seeing Ling Lan was fine, Li Lanfeng shifted all of focus to Lord Jindao, aimed at him and pulled on the trigger without any hesitation.
Bang! This time, the beam accurately hit the wrist area of the mecha. His previous erratic shot was completely useless and it didn't help Ling Lan one bit. He almost caused Ling Lan's death. Li Lanfeng hated himself for being so useless. He never wanted to ever be so helpless in a situation ever again.
However, despite his unwavering conviction, Lord Jindao was just too fast. Although Luo Lang and Xie Yi's reactions were fast as well, they were still slower by a beat and missed all of their beam gun shots.
"Damn it." Luo Lang saw that his shots were ineffective, so he tossed aside the beam gun in his hand and took out the large sword from his back. He then rushed towards Lord Jindao, who was already facing off with Ling Lan.Luo Lang's thoughts were simple. If he couldn't stop him using guns, then he would use his own mecha to stop him. All in all, if someone wanted to kill Boss, they must get past his dead body first.
"You guys interfere from long range."
Right at that moment, Ling Lan's calm voice echoed through Luo Lang's mecha's commlink channel.
Luo Lang immediately stopped his mecha and grit his teeth as he put back his large sword on his back. He then took out a beam gun and aimed it at Lord Jindao once again.
On the other side, after seeing Luo Lang rush forward, Xie Yi also followed behind him. He also immediately stopped after hearing Ling Lan's orders from the commlink channel. Just like Luo Lang, he took out his beam gun and aimed it at Lord Jindao.
However, the two of them discovered that long range interference wasn't an easy thing to do. Especially, when both mechas were moving about, attacking and evading. They couldn't lock on to Lord Jindao's mecha. In order to successfully interfere with Lord Jindao, they must predict his movements.
Prediction, or intuition, or using their own battle experience. If Qi Long was there, it wouldn't be hard for him. His innate talent, Animal Instinct, could tell him exactly and accurately where he should shoot at. Luo Lang and Xie Yi on the other hand didn't have talent in this aspect. Thus, they could only use their battle experience to predict the movements.
This type of prediction was akin to a blind guess. It could be right or could be wrong. There was no doubt that this was going to be a gamble. If they were right, they would be able to interfere with Lord Jindao. If they were wrong, they might even make things worse. Not only would they not interfere with Lord Jindao, but they could even bring about trouble for Boss. That was because they might shoot Boss instead of Lord Jindao.
Chapter 1252 Complete Trust
Sweat formed on Luo Lang and Xie Yi's foreheads. Their fingers moved a few times but they didn't dare to pull the trigger.
They were afraid that their predictions were wrong. If they were wrong, Boss might die from their own mistake.
Bang! A white light ray suddenly flew right past them. Luo Lang and Xie Yi panicked as the light zoomed towards Ling Lan.
"Li Lanfeng!" Luo Lang shouted angrily.
Li Lanfeng fired the shot. He aimed it in Ling Lan's direction.
Just as Luo Lang was to berate Li Lanfeng, the situation on Ling Lan's side changed. Ling Lan moved agilely and shifted herself to the other side of Lord Jindao, exposing Lord Jindao to the line of fire.
What would you do when you realise someone is sneaking an attack on you during a heated battle? You either dodge it or use your opponent to block it.
Lord Jindao was very confident in himself so when he noticed the incoming beam, he just nonchalantly raised his sword to block it.
At that moment, Ling Lan mecha was still facing away from Lord Jindao. Suddenly, she twisted her hand and aimed her beam sword at Lord Jindao's cockpit while he was blocking the beam. The angle of her attack was very weird.
Her beam sword was directed to the weakest spot of the cockpit.
When Lord Jindao noticed the snake-like sword, he felt his heart dropping. He quickly ignored the beam, tilted his body and dodged the sword.
Li Lanfeng didn't relax even when he was successful in his interference. He continued to look for the next opportunity.
"How did you do it? Aren't you afraid that you might hurt Boss?" Luo Lang asked in astonishment.
Li Lanfeng continued staring intently at his target. He didn't reply to Luo Lang.
Luo Lang felt that he wasn't going to get an answer. However, after some time, Li Lanfeng said in a calm tone, "I believe that our commander will be able to put things right even if I'm wrong."
Luo Lang frowned. He had a bad feeling.
"I was aiming at the commander just now." Li Lanfeng didn't make any predictions just now. He just shot at Lord Jindao because he saw him in his beam trajectory. Ling Lan was in the beam trajectory too but he didn't care. He had complete trust in Ling Lan.
"You…" Luo Lang almost fainted. Li Lanfeng was so irresponsible.
"Reality proved that I'm right." Li Lanfeng's reply made Luo Lang speechless.
"You should trust in the commander." Li Lanfeng reminded them out of goodwill.
As he was speaking, he fired another shot.
Coincidentally, Ling Lan moved when he pulled the trigger. Hence, she didn't get hit by the beam.
"Luo Lang, I think that Brother Li is right." Xie Yi noticed this too.
"If you say it's right, then it is." Luo Lang had complete trust in Xie Yi too.
They stopped hesitating. Their gaze became resolute as they pulled the trigger of their beam guns while speaking.
Three white light rays flew towards Lord Jindao. They weren't able to cause much damage to him but it managed to break his concentration. Number Three took the chance to attack Lord Jindao furiously. The cooperation between the four of them allowed them to suppress Lord Jindao.
"Ling Lan, even if you meet someone as strong as you, you need to analyse their mecha piloting too. Just now, if our opponent decided to ignore my attack and take the blow forcefully, he will have an opportunity to counter-attack us. We will be the ones getting suppressed then." Number Three made use of Li Lanfeng, Luo Lang, and Xie Yi's disturbance to attack Lord Jindao. Lord Jindao was forced to defend. Yet, Number Three still had the energy to talk to Ling Lan.
"So your attacks are actually just for show?" Ling Lan immediately understood her instructor.
"Yes. My attacks might seem powerful but they wouldn't be able to hurt him." Number Three felt a little pity for himself. "The difference between the two mechas is too great. The personal ability of the mecha operator can't make up for the vast difference. We can only prevent ourselves from getting defeated. Lord Jindao is stunned by my showy attacks. Once he understands what is happening, our advantage will disappear."
Ling Lan furrowed her brows tightly. She realised the situation was worse than she expected. "How long can you last?"
"You should ask your body how long can last under my control," Number Three said helplessly.
He was a spiritual entity. As long as their spiritual entity existed, they could fight for many days and nights. However, the human body couldn't last forever. The stronger their host was, the longer they could take over the body and the longer they could fight.
Of course, their strength was an important factor too. The more powerful they were, the greater the damage to the host's body. That was why Number Five and Number Nine could take over Ling Lan's body for a different amount of time. Number Three's ability was among the top three of the instructors. He was far stronger than Number Five. If Ling Lan's body was weak, the amount of time he could take over her body would be much shorter.However, no matter how strong Ling Lan's body was, she couldn't let Number Three take over it forever. Her body would collapse sooner or later under the possession.
"Tell me how long my body can last." Ling Lan knew that there was always a price to pay for everything. Life is fair.
"If you don't want to be hurt, you can last for three minutes and nineteen seconds. If you want me to take over till your last breath, we can go on for four minutes and forty seconds," Number Three replied.
"I can only elongate the time for less than a minute if I'm willing to get hurt." Ling Lan frowned. This might not be enough time for the reinforcements to come after Base Nebula managed to contact the headquarters.
"Can we escape?" If they couldn't win, they could run. Where there was life there was hope. Ling Lan wouldn't make unnecessary sacrifices.
"If this was (Belief], I would have killed him already. But with this junk, there's no chance of even escaping." Number Three sighed in frustration.
This was the most frustrating battle Number Three ever fought. He was able to release the full potential of an imperial mecha, maybe even exceeding its potential a little, but there was still a limit. Imperial mechas couldn't be compared to god-class mechas. The difference might not be apparent during short battles but if they tried to escape, the god-class mecha would be able to catch up with them easily. No matter how good his mecha piloting was, he couldn't pilot an imperial mecha move as quickly as a god-class mecha.
This was the limit of an imperial mecha.
Chapter 1253 I Can Persevere!
"We can only take the gamble." Ling Lan realised that she didn't have a choice.
"Yes. If you want to live, pray that Base Nebula will get out of the no-signal zone quickly and the reinforcements will arrive soon." Number Three didn't stop attacking while he was speaking to Ling Lan. His assault on Lord Jindao even got more ferocious.
"Ask Li Lanfeng, Xie Yi, and Luo Lang to leave first." Ling Lan didn't want her comrades to die with her.
Number Three had taken control of her body. Hence, she needed to let him do the talking.
"Don't think about it. They won't leave even if you tell them to," Number Three replied with certainty.
Ling Lan knew that this was the truth. Since they came here, they were already prepared to live or die with her. After sorting out her thoughts, she let out a deep sigh. She could only hope that her body would be able to pull through until the reinforcements arrived. She didn't want to die with her comrades.
Time passed slowly. Ling Lan suddenly vomited blood.
"Have you reached your limit?" Number Three frowned.
"Three minutes has passed." Ling Lan bore with the excruciating pain in her body as she looked at the timer on her screen. She had reached her limit. From now on, the longer Number Three controlled her body, the greater the damage her body would receive.
"Damn it, these imperial operators are so slow." Number Three started becoming irascible when he saw Ling Lan getting hurt. However, he needed to continue taking over her body. Once he left, Lord Jindao would be able to kill Ling Lan.
"You can't blame them. The most important thing is whether Base Nebula had managed to leave this zone and call for reinforcements," Ling Lan kept her cool.
"There's only one minute left. If they haven't arrived by then…" Number Three was worried. If their host died, they could just find another host. However, Ling Lan was like a child to them. They didn't want her to die.
Actually, they were already breaking the rules when they decided to take control of her body. Based on the guidelines of the learning space, they weren't allowed to interfere with the host's matter. But, they wouldn't be punished even if they broke the rules so this was why they could help Ling Lan whenever they wanted.
"They will come. Even if they don't, I know one person will." Ling Lan was confident.
She started practicing her Qi exercises. She also asked Number Three to drink the third generation Nuwa agent in her cockpit.
Ling Lan hoped that she would be able to resist longer with the help of these two things. This would increase their chance of survival.
Number Three dodged Lord Jindao's attack while drinking the Nuwa agent. Ling Lan immediately felt numb and itchy. Fortunately, the excruciating pain was still there so it covered up the numbness and itchiness a little. If not, Ling Lan might go crazy from this weird feeling
"The side effects of this agent are so frightening." Number Three was in control of Ling Lan's body so he had a taste of the strange and uncomfortable feeling too. His expression turned hideous.
"Number Three, bear with it." Ling Lan didn't expect the third generation Nuwa agent to be so powerful. It was many times stronger than its second generation. She felt that her endurance was good but she almost lost control of herself too.
"Howl!" Number Three roared. His fingers moved furiously over the control panel. Ling Lan could almost see green smoke rising from the panel.
Ling Lan's mecha started attacking Lord Jindao crazily as if this was its last burst of fire.
"Increase the frequency of our beams." Li Lanfeng frowned deeply when he saw Ling Lan's actions.
He felt that Ling Lan might be preparing for something. He just didn't know what it was since Ling Lan didn't give him enough hints.
Lord Jindao felt the increase in strength and speed of Ling Lan's furious assault. His expression changed as this meant that his opponent's hand speed had increased again. When Ling Lan managed to block his attacks, he was already very puzzled. He thought that Ling Lan might have taken some forbidden medicine and activated an innate talent that could strengthen his abilities.
However, this usually could only be done once. Did this mean that his guess was wrong? Did Ling Lan manage to advance to a god-class operator during this fight?
Malicious intent appeared in Lord Jindao's eyes. He had the urge to ignore the plan and kill Ling Lan immediately.
Luckily, he managed to control his impulses in time. He didn't launch his ultimate technique but continued defending instead. If anyone else saw their fight, they might think that he was suppressed by the combined efforts of the four mechas.Once Ling Xiao arrived, he would kill Ling Lan instantly and let him have a taste of what it was like to lose his son. This was the reason why Ling Lan still hadn't been killed by Lord Jindao. Lord Jindao purposely let her off.
The sudden burst of fierce attacks lasted only for a short while. Ling Lan changed her offensive stance to a defensive stance.
Li Lanfeng watched Ling Lan attentively. He started analysing her actions.
One minute had passed. Ling Lan's condition was getting worse and worse. Blood was flowing continuously out of her mouth. Her clothes were drenched in blood. The smell of blood filled the entire cockpit.
"Ling Lan, can you still handle it?" Number Three's heart was in pain. Was Ling Lan really going to die?
Ling Lan gave a bright smile. "Of course, I can last one more minute."
Number Three nodded. He knew that she would only be able to resist another thirty seconds at most, that was if he slowed down his attacks to minimise the backlash to her body.
Number Three was also trying to drag the time as much as he could.
Chapter 1254 Bad Situation!
"Commander is in a bad situation." Li Lanfeng noticed that Ling Lan's assault was becoming weaker and slower. She was still able to dodge the attacks from Lord Jindao, but the minute differences in Ling Lan' attitude could not be hidden from Li Lanfeng's eyes. He could see that Ling Lan was no longer at an advantage.
"We must go all out." Luo Lang kept his gun aimed at the two fighting mechas. He desperately wished that he could dive into the fight and maybe block a sword slash with his body just to help Boss.
"Four minutes has gone by. Based on the max speed of Base Nebula, it should have flown out of the no-signal zone. Meng Lan must have contacted the headquarters by now. If there's no delay in the reinforcements, we just need to persevere for one more minute." Li Lanfeng expressed his thoughts. While he was speaking, his beam gun kept moving along with Lord Jindao's movement.
If he could, he wished that he could be in Ling Lan's position instead of her. Even if he died, he wouldn't have regrets. However, he couldn't do that. He knew him staying out of the fight was the best thing for Ling Lan.
Overall, he was just too weak. Li Lanfeng hated himself. He kept saying that he would fight alongside Ling Lan but in the end, Ling Lan was still the one protecting him.
Xie Yi was prepared to help Ling Lan at any moment's time. Among the three of them, Li Lanfeng's long-range technique was the best. The next best was him. Even if Luo Lang was the last among the three of them, he was still among the top five brigade leaders in terms of long-range technique. It was just that his close-combat technique was just better than long-range technique
20 seconds had passed. Blood wasn't just flowing out of Ling Lan's mouth now. Her skin was starting to crack. Blood stained her undergarments. While she was receiving the full degree of the backlash from the possession, Ling Lan was still receiving the impact from piloting an imperial mecha.
"F**k. Why can't the universe accept Ling Lan?" Number Three screamed in anger as he dodged Lord Jindao's sword again.
She was chased by a powerful mecha team when she went to school for the first time. When she was still a scout, domain realm masters attempted to assassinate her. Now, she was being attacked by the ultimate weapon in the universe, a god-class mecha.
Number Three had lived for a long time so he could tell that Lord Jindao's target was Ling Lan. 'Why is trouble always attracted to Ling Lan? Is it because of her past life? Is this why this universe is rejecting her and wanting to kick her out?' Number Three felt that this universe was ill-treating Ling Lan.
"Huh?" Number Three suddenly retreated back in a fluster as he felt an unprecedented sense of danger coming towards him.
A group of white light rays appeared around Lord Jindao. The group of white light rays was seemingly released from Lord Jindao's command and rushed towards Ling Lan. It was so bright it split the dark space into two.
The three people at the side were shocked. They quickly pulled their trigger.
They felt the sense of danger too.
Three beams erupted from their muzzles. They congregated into a huge ball of light and flew towards the group of light rays.
Boom! Everyone was blinded by the white light. Xie Yi and Luo Lang closed their eyes instinctively. However, Li Lanfeng forced himself to keep his eyes open. He wanted to see if Ling Lan was safe.
A tattered mecha rushed out of the group of white light rays. There were many damages on the mecha. Some cuts were so deep that the electrical circuits under the mecha's outer shell could be seen. Sparks flickered on the circuits.
Fortunately, Ling Lan managed to escape.
Li Lanfeng was elated that Ling Lan was safe. However, in the next moment, he saw a glaring light ray detaching from the group of blinding white light rays. The white ray chased after Ling Lan's tattered mecha.
"Dodge!" Li Lanfeng shouted frantically. He charged towards Ling Lan without thinking.
Faster, faster. He must reach Ling Lan before the white light ray hits him.
Cold sweat appeared on Ling Lan's forehead. They merged with blood and dripped down Ling Lan's body.
Number Three was still in control of Ling Lan's body. "If you want to kill Ling Lan, you have to seek my approval first. Move!" Ling Lan's hand speed broke its limit again. Number Three knew that this might cause irreversible injuries to her hands but saving her life was more important now.
Ling Lan's mecha went against the law of motion again. It shifted a few meters to the right and evaded the light ray.
Ling Lan was hurting all over. In her daze, she felt as though she went back to her past life when every inch of her body was in pain.
"Lanlan, how can you be so heartless. How can you leave your father and I behind? Why can't you persevere for a while longer? Do you know that our country has invented a new medicine that can help you? If you were still here, we would have been able to lead a happy life together."
Ling Lan couldn't see the dark universe anymore. She was in a beautiful place with trees all around her. However, there were many tombs too. UNder the orange glow of dusk, four people were standing in front of a tomb, crying while solemnly tilting their forward.
Ling Lan floated over uncontrollably as if she was attracted to them.
There were two old people and two young people. They seemed to be two couples. Besides the young lady, the other three people seemed familiar to her.
"Lanlan, I brought your favourite ice cream, fish soup, and stir-fried chinese yam with black fungus. These are all your favourite dishes." The old lady took out the dishes she prepared and placed them on the marble platform. She touched the tomb with tears in her eyes.
'Tsk, why does this Lanlan like all the food I hate?' Ling Lan pouted.
'Wait, this isn't right. Mum never cooked these dishes for me before? Why do I hate them?' Ling Lan was puzzled.
"Ling Four, what is happening?" Ling Lan naturally asked Little Four for an answer.
Chapter 1255 I Said That I Will Protect You!
Little Four didn't answer her.
"Little Four?" Ling Lan got a little agitated when no one replied to her. Little Four had accompanied her ever since she was born. Thus, she was used to having him around.
Ling Lan shouted for Little Four frantically but he still didn't appear.
'Damn it. Where am I?' Ling Lan got frustrated.
"Sister, I brought Wan'er to see you. She is your sister-in-law from now on." The young man smiled as he pulled the hand of the young lady beside him.
The young lady smiled lovingly at the young man. Then, she said in a shy voice, "Sister Ling Lan, I will take care of Ling Lang. Don't worry about him."
"Yes. Ling Lan, Wan'er is a really nice girl. She treats our Langlang very well. I'm satisfied with my daughter-in-law. That is why I am bringing her here today. You don't have to worry about your brother anymore." The old woman smiled happily at the young lady. The sadness in her eyes diminished a little.
When Ling Lan heard 'Sister Ling Lan', forgotten memories suddenly flooded her mind.
'Is this my past life? They were my parents and my younger brother. Is that my sister-in-law whom I never met?' Ling Lan remembered everything.
"Are you doing well in the other world? Do you have people taking care of you? Your health is poor. If no one takes care of you, I'll never be able to rest easy. Are you able to eat properly? We are really worried about you so your mother made your favourite dishes. Your sister-in-law helped too. Do eat more." The old man sighed in a deflated tone.
"I'm doing very well now. I have two new parents in my new world. I'm their only child so they pour all their love on me. They do not let me suffer at all. If something happens to me, my father will take his knife, I mean, take his mecha and take revenge for me. Even if my father were to be rational, my mother will urge him to do it. They're good parents," Ling Lan said softly.
She seemed to be replying to her former parents but she was actually recalling her past. Her first life was filled with regrets but heaven paid her back in this life.
Ling Lan finally remembered the time that she ate fish soup and stir-fried chinese yam with black fungus. She hated them so she would frown whenever she ate them. She never expressed her dislike for the dishes but her mother noticed her disgusted expression. Thus, these two dishes never appeared on the dining table again.
There was no ice cream in her house too.
In her past life, her parents loved her too. However, this love was hidden behind endless pain and responsibilities they had to bear. Ling Lan knew they loved her younger brother more. This wasn't because he was a male. It was because her younger brother had a future with them while she didn't. They couldn't afford to love her too much. They were scared of being hurt when she left the world.
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Ling Lan understood the emotional burden her former parents had to bear. Everyone would protect themselves unconsciously. No one wanted to hurt themselves. If they loved her less, letting her go would be less painful for them.
She understood their rational actions but she still felt sad. She didn't like those cheap dishes but she forced herself to eat them because she didn't want her parents to waste more money on her. Yet, her parents never noticed the pain in her eyes.
When she didn't finish her food, they never asked her why either.
Ling Lan was obedient but she was just a child. All she wanted was to be love. However, she didn't know how to ask for love. As she grew older, she got used to the lack of affection her parents were giving her.
"I'm very happy in my new world. Really." Ling Lan let out a pure genuine smile. The beautiful scenery around her paled in comparison to her smile.
"I have nothing to do with this life anymore. Father, mother, this is my last time calling you my parents. I hope you will have a happy and healthy life. I hope my younger brother will lead a good life with his wife. I have to return to my world now. I belonged there, not here." Ling Lan's smile was enchanting.
She lifted her finger and slit the air in front of her. "Break!"
The scenery around her exploded. Ling Lan felt a stabbing pain.
"Ling Lan, are you alright?" Number Three asked anxiously. Ling Lan���s consciousness disappeared from her mindscape just now. Number Three thought that something happened to her.
"I'm fine." Ling Lan's voice was hoarse.
Number Three wanted to reply to her but he suddenly sensed danger. "Damn it!"
Ling Lan was already on the verge of collapsing. However, Lord Jindao had shortened the distance between them.
Lord Jindao was already treating Ling Lan as a god-class operator so after launching his ultimate god-class technique, he followed it up with another attack. He must have predicted Number Three's movement because the attack was aimed at Number Three's current position.
No, that wasn't right. It was more accurate to say that no matter where Number Three went, he wouldn't be able to dodge Lord Jindao's following attack.
Number Three gritted his teeth as he moved Ling Lan's bloodied fingers again. If one's eyesight was good enough, one would see the white bones protruding out of the tips of her fingers
Number Three had reached his limit. He knew he couldn't evade the attack. He could only protect the cockpit from being damaged.
He didn't know how powerful this attack was. Would the residual force be strong enough to destroy the cockpit even if it wasn't hit directly?
Suddenly, a mecha appeared in front of her.
"Li Lanfeng!" Ling Lan widened her eyes in shock. She didn't know what else she could say.
"I said I'll protect you." Li Lanfeng smiled. A huge beam shield appeared from his arm.
"Boss!" Luo Lang and Xie Yi frantically fired at the huge homing light ray. They hoped that they would be able to dissipate some of its energy.
Bang! Another white beam cut through the universe and blocked Lord Jindao's attack.