"Yes, it's really been a long time, almost a full 17 years!" said the marshal with a face filled with nostalgia. Ling Xiao had been the abnormally talented prodigy he had singled out by name for cultivation, and had once been his pride and joy. Back when he had heard of his demise, the marshal had been filled with unimaginable grief.
"Ling Xiao, regarding your successful return this time, headquarters has promised to call a press conference to announce your return. Also, congratulations on successfully becoming the 9th General of our Federation. This is the honour and status you should rightfully receive!" said the marshal with mixed feelings as he patted Ling Xiao on the shoulder. He then moved to sit in an armchair on one side, signalling for Ling Xiao to sit down as well for a talk.
"Many thanks for the appreciation, Marshal!" said Ling Xiao with a soft smile, taking a seat on the sofa beside him. He did not appear to be smug or arrogant from the rise in his status — this formed a strong contrast with his youthful appearance, causing the marshal to nod in approval inside his heart, increasingly pleased by what he saw.
Ling Xiao's 17 years of trials and suffering were not for nothing; it had caused Ling Xiao's entire demeanour to become much more steady and reliable. He deserved the esteemed rank of general, worthy of trust.
"As for your assignment ... the 7th Division has, after all, been rebuilt for over 10 years, so every part of the division is already well-developed, making it unsuitable for large-scale adjustment," said the marshal carefully. He knew well how much the 7th Division meant to Ling Xiao, but times had changed, and now the 7th Division no longer had a place for Ling Xiao."How does headquarters want to assign me?" In contrast, Ling Xiao did not seem as concerned as the marshal had feared, merely asking calmly about the intentions of the military headquarters.
"Headquarters is planning to reassign a portion of the troops from each division to build a new 23rd Division. The division will be given drafting priority with the new batch of soldiers this year, while you, Ling Xiao, shall become the sole commander of the 23rd Division. You may freely choose your deputies from any of the other divisions."
The marshal detailed the plans the military had for him. Since Ling Xiao had become the Federation's 9th great general, it was of course necessary for him to lead his own army. However, all the current army divisions already had their own commanders and, excepting cases of grave error, armies typically would not casually switch their supreme commanders. In the end, military headquarters decided to just establish a new army division and make Ling Xiao responsible for it. In order to appease Ling Xiao, they even proffered some preferential treatment and special privileges.
"This is fine too!" Ling Xiao found this arrangement satisfactory. Although the 7th Division indeed meant something special to him, its meaning was not on the label of the 7th Division, but rather with his comrades-in-arms within that division.
17 years' time was long enough for things to change significantly — although the 7th Division still retained its name, those comrades who had fought with him through thick and thin were already gone. Thus, he actually felt it was fine even if he did not go to the 7th Division.
Still, Ling Xiao would not reveal his true thoughts on the matter. Let those folks in headquarters feel as if they had wronged him — this way, he would be able to make some outrageous requests of them.
"Do you still have any other requirements? As long as it is within my means, I will make sure you get it." Sure enough, as Ling Xiao expected, the marshal was the first to fall for it.Ling Xiao held a moment of silent contemplation, and then said, "I want to know everything that happened with my wife Lan Luofeng and Ling Lan over these past 17 years. I want to catch up on everything I missed in these last 17 years."
The marshal cast a searching glance at Ling Xiao and sighed. He then indicated for the secret service officer by his side to hand over a pre-prepared document. The moment he found out that Ling Xiao still lived and was on his way back, he had asked for this document to be prepared. Knowing Ling Xiao, he would definitely ask him for this information.
Putting his hands on the document being handed over by the staff officer, a surge of emotion coursed through Ling Xiao's eyes. He took a moment to settle himself, before reaching out to accept the document fully into his hands.
Ling Xiao eagerly opened the file and began by browsing the bit and pieces of Lan Luofeng's life over these past 17 years. As Lan Luofeng had always stayed at home, there wasn't much in terms of content. Ling Xiao very quickly finished reading this part of the file.
When Ling Xiao moved on to the part of the file with Ling Lan's information, he took in a deep breath before continuing. The first thing that caught his eyes was a student photo of Ling Lan at 13 years old. The red of the scout uniform made Ling Lan look majestic and spirited. His little face was fixed in a stony expression, like a stoic and serious mini-adult. Ling Xiao found this aloof and unapproachable appearance of his unbearably adorable.
So this was his son Ling Lan? He was definitely the combination of his and Lan Luofeng's strengths! Ling Xiao instantly became a Twenty-four Filial Exemplars dad 1 ... his child was naturally the best and most exceptional!
In a great mood, he flipped to the next page. The document began to introduce the various things that had happened from Ling Lan's birth onwards. When Ling Xiao read till the part about how the Ling branch family had schemed to usurp Ling Lan's inheritance of his premium military benefits, his gaze turned cold. He had been worried from the start about what troubles these greedy family members could bring to Lan Luofeng and his child ... but he had not expected that their appetites would be so voracious, actually thinking of outright robbing his child of what he had left for him. He must teach them a lesson.
Then, seeing how Lan Luofeng used the combined forces of the military and the government to chase the entire Ling family out of Doha, Ling Xiao could not help but smile. He knew it — Lan Luofeng was not as weak as she appeared to be.
However, his good mood soon evaporated. This was because he saw that Ling Lan had suffered an assassination attempt on the way to his first day of school, and not just that, a betrayer had actually emerged from among Ling Lan's loyalists ... at this point, Ling Xiao almost exploded from rage. He decided that when he got back, he would thoroughly clean up the Ling family loyalists — he definitely would not allow any danger to remain hidden by Ling Lan's side.
But the following information slowly calmed Ling Xiao's rage. He had mixed feelings when he saw that at every ranking tournament, Ling Lan would always surrender on his own at the final moments. His son was clearly capable of dominating all the other students of his grade, but was just unwilling to stand out, finally becoming the grade's uncrowned king. The path his son had chosen to walk was different from his. He had always shown himself to be strong, always in the limelight, while Ling Lan chose instead to hide his talent. His methods of laying low were just a little terrible — anyone who was paying attention could see right through it 2 .
The file documented all of Ling Lan's impressive exploits in the scout academy, and especially at the part where Ling Lan successfully initiated the grand armed melee that had been sealed away for 100 years, Ling Xiao was instantly filled with pride! So this was his son Ling Lan!
Ling Xiao's pride and elation stopped there, however. As he read the next part, his face turned pale.
Who could have expected that enemy spies would infiltrate the academy disguised as teachers to try and assassinate Ling Lan during the grand armed melee? Fortunately, Ling Lan was speculated to have been saved by the God-Realm master Mu Shui-qing. But even so, Ling Lan had already received serious injuries, his body almost being destroyed.
"Dammit!" raged Ling Xiao, his fingers clenching. The paper in his hands was instantly crumbled into powder to drift down from the air.
This outburst allowed Ling Xiao to regain his composure. He looked down regretfully at that destroyed piece of paper — crap, there were still some things he hadn't had time to read yet ...
Ling Xiao could only skip to the final page, only to find that there was nothing more ...
"Marshal, my son Ling Lan was injured severely at 13. What happened after that?" Ling Xiao was anxious to know Ling Lan's current condition, quickly turning to ask the marshal for answers.
Hearing Ling Xiao's question, the marshal knew that Ling Xiao must not have seen the rest of the page he had destroyed. He replied, "Because Ling Lan's wounds were too severe, the specialist doctor prescribed 3 to 4 years of proper rest to heal his body. During this period of time, he cannot take part in any extreme activity, otherwise it would just exacerbate his wounds, very likely leaving some lasting latent trouble in his body."
Saying this, the marshal felt rather awkward. No matter what, as members of the upper rank of the military who were alumni of the scout academy system, they all had some responsibility for the assassination attempt of Ling Lan within the academy. He signalled his secretary to light a cigarette for him, and then continued to say, "Due to this circumstance, Ling Lan made the decision to withdraw from the academy to recuperate at home for 3 years, and only returned to the scout academy in the final year when it was time to apply and register with the various colleges and universities."
"Does that mean his body is fully recovered now?" Ling Xiao's eyes were hopeful.
The marshal drew a mouthful of smoke and puffed it out in a long breath. "No! According to the latest news, Ling Lan's body was injured too severely, 3 years was not enough for him to recover fully. The doctors have diagnosed that he will need at least another year for the possibility of full recovery."
Ling Xiao's entire face turned frigid. His lips were pressed together in a thin line, while his hands were clenched into two tight fists. Due to the extreme force placed on them, the bones of his fingers actually began to emit cracking noises ...
The marshal added, "It was a few days ago when your son Ling Lan applied to the various higher institutions. You should know that the military schools have very strict requirements, especially for the first year when they focus mostly on training up the students' physical bodies. Any student who cannot keep up will be expelled. I don't know which institution Ling Lan will choose in the end, but he probably will not apply for those military schools."
"Can we find out now?" asked Ling Xiao.
The marshal looked at the staff officer, who immediately nodded and said, "Marshal, the information is available for checking now."
Ling Xiao did not turn to look at the staff officer at all, keeping his gaze squarely on the marshal, awaiting his reply.
"What shall I do with you? Still so tenacious!" Ling Xiao's clear telegraphing of his intentions of not leaving until he received an answer caused the marshal to shake his head helplessly. He could only send off his secret service officer to look up the final results of Ling Lan's applications.
Soon, the staff officer returned. His expression was extremely strange as he peeked at Ling Xiao, and he looked as if he were holding back some words which he would have liked to say to Ling Xiao. Still, he remembered his place, and without saying anything, he passed the new folder in his hands to Ling Xiao.
"What, Ling Lan actually applied to the Windchase Mecha Service College on planet Aureolin? What school is this? Why haven't I heard of it?" Ling Xiao was dumbfounded by the news before his eyes. Even if military schools were out of the picture, there were still plenty of renowned public general universities for Ling Lan to choose from.
"That's a community college, rank-F," explained the staff officer in a small voice. Rank-F institutions were at the lowest tier; almost no other institutions could be worse than that. Back when he had first seen this information, the staff officer had been just as shocked, which was why he had taken the extra effort to look up the relevant details and ranking of the Windchase Mecha Service College.
"Ha, Ling Xiao's son, my son, actually falling so far as to enter a rank-F community college ... Marshal, I think you owe me an explanation." Ling Xiao had been dealt a heavy blow by this news. Losing his previous respectfulness, his tone was curt and demanding. Some people, some things, were his hot buttons, not to be triggered carelessly. Lan Luofeng was one of them previously, and now Ling Lan was one.
The marshal naturally did not take offense at this. In fact, Ling Xiao would only be so direct with him because he truly considered him as an elder who cared for him. He rubbed at his brow in consternation, unsure what he should do.
When he had first seen his staff officer return with that complicated expression on his face, he had known that something was not right. And sure enough, this was the situation.
"Then, you tell me. What do you want?" He indeed owed Ling Xiao a great deal; the marshal could not refuse him.
"I want my son to enter the Federation's First Men's Military Academy!" Ling Xiao said with steel-like conviction. In his heart, that was the only place that was worthy of his son.
ryuxenji ryuxenji
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