On Planet General, everyone was focused on the conference that was about to begin. This conference was held for the public hearing of the report of the battle between Knight Ace Mecha Clan and Lingtian. The latter had completely wiped out Knight Ace Mecha Clan without leaving any survivors, which had raised questions about the brutalness shown by Lingtian's regiment commander, Ling Lan.
Ling Lan's background was known to the people who needed to know. Those who were oblivious to the information, had no idea who Ling Lan was. However, no matter if they were the former or the latter, Ling Lan's name was known by all. Those who knew of his connection with the Ling family wanted to see what this legendary Prince Ling looked like. Those who didn't know of his connection with the Ling family were also keen on seeing what she looked like because of her mecha clan's military merits and achievements.
Ling Lan led Luo Lang, Xie Yi, Li Yingjie and Gu Dongyang into the conference room.
The audience quickly frowned as they saw Ling Lan walking in with a face full of terrifying scars. Many of them all pitied her in their minds. By just looking at her scars, everyone in the audience hardened their impression of the terrifying backlash one could get from operating above one's level.
Only the four who came along with Ling Lan knew that on the way to the conference room, their regiment commander's scars became more and more pronounced on his face. In the end, the scars returned to the point when he was first being treated.However, the four of them didn't freak out as they knew that their regiment commander was trying to invoke pity within the audience. Manipulating the feelings of the people around him was something their regiment commander always did. As long as there was a way he could take advantage of people, he would do so in a heartbeat.
The military report conference was quite efficient. They didn't waste any time before calling for Ling Lan to go up the stage to start her report. Ling Lan's oral report exactly reflected the content she had reported to the military previously on documented reports perfectly. Many of the officers who participated in the conference were all nodding in agreement, while the soldiers watching the conference all clenched their fists as they imagined themselves being in the battle based on Ling Lan's vivid description. These soldiers hated that they were not in the battle as well.
However, soon after Ling Lan's oral report reached the casualties sustained in the battle, the massive number of soldiers who had died for the cause made all the soldiers watching the conference feel a sharp pain in their hearts. Everyone only saw Lingtian's victory but neglected the price Lingtian had to pay for winning this battle. (Of course, Little Four meddled with the numbers of soldiers perished in battle.)
At the end of the report, Ling Lan said without a change in her tone, "The mecha operators in my mecha clan were all putting their lives on the line on the battlefield. We went into battle without knowing whether we would be able to return alive. It is true that we have achieved feats that we should be proud of. I really do not care about those merits and achievements that do not belong to us. However, I will not accept my clan members being slighted with their rightful merits after risking their lives on the line for the Federation."
These words were said to the officers who had ordered the relocation of her clan to Base Nebula. Many military officers in the audience all had embarrassed looks on their face. After all, they were some of the ones who were suspicious of Lingtian Mecha Clan's achievements in the battle.
The host of the conference looked at the military officers sitting below the stage. He asked calmly, "Are there any questions for Lingtian Mecha Clan's Regiment Commander, Ling Lan, about his report?"
The audience was silent. A lot of the officers were looking at the colleagues beside them, but no one stood up on their own."If there are no questions, we will enter the three minute Q&A session. If during this time, no one asks any questions or disagrees with his report, then we will officially approve the report of Major General Ling Lan from Lingtian Mecha Clan. The rewards of it will be given thereafter," announced the host based on the proper procedures.
Murmurs began to echo within the audience. After a few seconds, one of the officers finally raised his hand, stood up and asked, "I would like to ask Regiment Commander Ling a question. Were Knight Ace Mecha Clan not as strong as what we have reported it to be? I just find it impossible for your clan to wipe out the 18th ranked clan of Caesar."
A cold gleam flashed past Ling Lan's eyes. The gleam was like a sharp sword slicing towards the officer who had spoken. Even though the distance between them was not close, the officer still felt his entire body being trapped in an ice world.
After giving the sharp glare, she retracted the energy she used. That officer seemed to have suddenly regained his strength. The feeling of being on the brink of death disappeared too quickly. He didn't know whether he was going crazy or he was actually on the brink of death for that instant.
"We can easily deduce the strength of Knight Ace Mecha Clan. Caesar has many mecha clans that are ranked higher than Knight Mecha Clan. I welcome you to go and wipe one of them out. That way you'll be able to decrease the the overall strength of the Caesar Empire and make the Federation look good." Ling Lan responded nonchalantly with a strong tone in her voice. It was as if she was seriously suggesting a solution and not actually mocking the person who posed the question.
After hearing those words, the officer from the military headquarters went pale and red in the face. In reality, although the military ranks of these officers were quite high and many of them were once ace operators, their piloting abilities was probably not even comparable to a standard ace operator because of their time spent in the office. If they were actually to go into battle, they would probably be the first to die.
"If we can't determine Knight Ace Mecha Clan's actual strength, then we can't determine Lingtian's military merits and achievements." Many people were suspicious of this point. Lingtian's merits were indeed necessary, but they could not reach a collective agreement on the matter.
All in all, these people wanted to take away Lingtian Mecha Clan's merits and achievements because they didn't want another Ling Xiao to appear. That was because the more merits Lingtian Mecha Clan acquired, the person who led them, Ling Lan, would receive more and more rewards and merits. With a rank of major general, if she was rewarded even more, she would soon be promoted to a lieutenant general… That would be crazy.
Although major generals were considered generals, other than those with actual military power, many of them were actually pseudo generals. Those pseudo major generals were mostly those who acquired it through academics and arts. Many of them were also people who used their ancestors' connections to acquire the position. In the Federation, there were many people with the rank of major general, but not many with real military power.
Thus, although these officers were not too comfortable with Ling Lan acquiring the rank of major general with military power at such a young age, she was still not that radiant as there were many pseudo major generals along with her. However, everything would be different if she was a lieutenant general. Lieutenant general rank and above didn't have any pseudo ranks that existed. Anyone with the rank of lieutenant general or above in the Federation had real political power with a terrifying faction under their control.
Those lieutenant generals were usually 50 to 60-year-old individuals. Some were even older than that. The youngest ones were around Qi Yaoyang's age. They wouldn't be able to handle having a snot-nosed brat suddenly appearing among them…
This was why many of the factions within the military headquarters cooperated with each other to be a hindrance to Ling Lan's future. One Ling Xiao was already their limit. If another appeared… was the Federation going to belong to the Ling family then?
No one was willing to give up the power they had in their grasp. Even those who were open-minded would still fight to maintain their influence. On the surface, they considered it as developing and nurturing the next generation but in actuality, it would be a battle between the old and young. They would see who was going to be the last one standing.
"Knight Ace Mecha Clan's ranking in the Caesar Empire is clearly displayed to the public. Do you really think that the Caesar Empire may have cooperated with us to purposely send out a weak Knight Ace Mecha Clan to help us acquire military merits?" Li Yingjie, who was originally listening to the conference quietly, finally couldn't hold it in and jumped up as he faced the murmurs of people doubting Knight Ace Mecha Clan's real capabilities.
His words immediately silenced everyone in the audience. If someone were to actually say Ling Xiao and Ling Lan cooperated with the Caesar Empire… that would definitely be the greatest joke of the entire century. Many of the well-known ace mecha operators from the Caesar Empire had all perished by Ling Xiao's hand back in the day. If someone were to say who the Caesar Empire hated the most, Ling Xiao might not be the first or second on the list, but he would be at least one of the top three individuals in that list.
