A week after Ling Lan sent her parents off, the military called a press conference, announcing the news of Ling Xiao's return to life to the public!
Ling Lan looked at the unbelievably handsome and elegant Ling Xiao on the screen and could not help but be in awe. Her father in this life was truly impeccable whether it was in terms of appearance or air of presence. However, she of course admired Ling Xiao's loyalty and steadfastness in love and marriage much more. Whether it was in her past life or this one, a good man, in Ling Lan's opinion, was someone responsible like Ling Xiao.
"Daddy, can I really believe that you will come back?" Ling Lan thought back to the young Ling Xiao in the legacy space — after 17 years, Ling Xiao seemed to still be the same Ling Xiao ...
"Don't disappoint me, Daddy! You must give Mummy happiness!" Seeing the mature and gentle Ling Xiao, who seemed as if he could accept anything, Ling Lan could not help but press a hand to her own chest, muttering to herself with a complicated expression.
As long as ... as long as I can confirm that you are the same man as before, I will definitely willingly call you 'daddy'! All of Ling Lan's feelings for her father had been given to the Ling Xiao from the legacy space who had watched her as she grew up. This was also the final reason why Ling Lan was still unwilling to call Ling Xiao 'daddy'.Ling Xiao's return not only invigorated the entire Federation, but also stunned the countries bordering the Federation, their attitudes towards the Federation beginning to change. Before Ling Xiao's return, although the Federation still had eleven god-class operators, five of them were already officially in their old age, their condition deteriorating significantly. Three of the five were even already at the phase when they were just waiting for heaven to call 1 — whether they could maintain even half of their combat ability was a question mark.
The Federation only retained 5 to 6 god-class operators who were in fighting form. Compared to the other countries, they did not have that many more god-class operators in their peak. This was also why the Federation had not had a lull in battle for these 10 over years, because it no longer possessed enough combat power to deter its border countries.
But Ling Xiao's return to the Federation made the Federation's combat power increase tremendously, because Ling Xiao was young enough that his future was immeasurable. He might very well become the strongest god-class operator in legend. Not just that, Ling Xiao also was sitting on a method to ascend to god-class operator, which could let the Federation cultivate even younger god-class operators. Of course, god-class operators were not that easy to cultivate, perhaps requiring ten to twenty years or even longer. That said, many high-level operators would probably be produced in the process — there definitely wouldn't be few ace operators or whatnot. This was something the other nations really did not want to see.
This restored the Federation's deterrent power to its initial state before Ling Xiao's death. All the countries became extremely friendly, respectively sending delegations to congratulate the Federation. All the ambassadors' attitudes were obviously much more respectful than before. This made the Federation's government extremely happy — it should be known that in the 17 years after Ling Xiao's 'death', the Federation had lived in a very repressed manner. But now, they could finally have better days.
Ling Xiao's popularity and high status also caused the initially ignored and rather bleak Ling family to once again become busy and lively. Ling Lan was in no mood to entertain these materialistic fair-weather 'friends', so she summarily announced that she was isolating herself for training, the Ling family mansion officially closing its doors to all visitors.
During this time, Ling Lan had also received congratulatory letters from Qi Long and the others. They were all extremely happy on their boss's behalf, while also thrilled that the idol of their hearts was still alive. If they weren't currently part of an exploration team on an interplanetary adventure, they would definitely have rushed over to the Ling family home to visit Ling Lan, and taken the chance to understand the entire story at the same time.
Their correspondence made Ling Lan happy, but of course she did not forget to remind them to be careful outside. Originally, Ling Lan had also wanted to tell them that she would be joining them at the First Men's Military Academy this year, but she held back the words as they were about to spill from her mouth.Ling Lan wanted to give them a surprise! Of course, Ling Lan would never admit that she actually wanted to see their expressions as their jaws dropped in surprise ... She was such a great boss, how could she be so evil?
********
Another twenty days passed, and it was finally time to register at the First Men's Military Academy. Even though Lan Luofeng had contacted Ling Lan several days ago, saying that she and Ling Xiao wanted to rush back to accompany her to register, Ling Lan had strongly refused. This was because the assembly point listed on the acceptance letter was the intergalactic spaceport on Doha. In other words, she just needed to board the direct transfer to the spaceport. For such a short journey, it really wasn't necessary to drag the busy Ling Xiao back here.
Lan Luofeng initially refused to agree to Ling Lan's opinion, but Ling Xiao unexpectedly supported Ling Lan's decision. Back when Ling Xiao had agreed, Ling Lan could hear Lan Luofeng roaring angrily in the background — although Lan Luofeng had agreed with father and daughter in the end, Ling Xiao most probably had to pay a painful price for this. As for what that price was, Ling Lan could not know.
On the night before she left, after Ling Lan and Lan Luofeng had shared updates with one another as usual, Ling Xiao had unexpectedly appeared beside Lan Luofeng, requesting to speak with her.
On the screen, Ling Xiao was again dressed in his general's uniform, and the fatigue between his eyebrows was hard to miss. His gentle voice rang out, and Ling Lan's heart throbbed. "Lan-er, I have arranged everything. For the first year, other than the theory classes, you are not scheduled to take any physical training courses, and you have been exempted from all the tests and assessments. However, I can only solve the official courses on the academy's side. It's up to you to handle the private and informal combat training that often occurs among students ... Take care with everything!"
"Understood, Father!" said Ling Lan gratefully. However, Ling Lan's voice sounded as calm as ever, and was just as cold to Ling Xiao's ear. He sighed. When would his daughter open her mouth and call him 'daddy'? Perhaps even act like a sweet little girl in front of him begging for attention ...
A visualisation of Ling Lan acting cute appeared in Ling Xiao's mind. A coy and bashful expression appearing on that icy cold face ... Ling Xiao abruptly found himself feeling unwell. Fine, Ling Lan was the best just the way she was. Ling Xiao wept — was he destined not to have a daughter-like daughter in his life 2 ? At this moment, the hatred in his heart began to rise ... the ones who had created this horrible outcome were definitely those people who had trapped him — he would never stop going after them.
Ling Lan felt a flash of killing intent sweep over Ling Xiao's body, but he returned to normal in the blink of an eye. If she had not been so attuned to killing intent due to the learning space, she might have been fooled by how quickly Ling Xiao had concealed it. She was somewhat puzzled — what was it that had caused Ling Xiao to suddenly be filled with killing intent?
Composed again, Ling Xiao looked at the calm-faced youth on the screen. Knowing that his 17-year long absence had already forced Ling Lan to be self-sufficient and be responsible beyond her years, the remorse in his heart grew.
No, this would not do. He must take on the responsibilities of a father. He must let Ling Lan know that, from now on, there was someone who would weather storms for her. "Ling Lan, at the military academy, you do not have to worry about anything. Do whatever you want to do. Dad will support you no matter what!" Ling Xiao said assertively to Ling Lan.
Instantly, Ling Lan found herself speechless. Ling Xiao's words made her recall that widespread phrase in her previous world: My dad is Li Gang 3 !
A scene popped up in Ling Lan's mind — arrogantly, she led her group of arrogant underlings around (Qi Long's team members all made cameo appearances), and whenever she saw anyone who rubbed her the wrong way, she would set her underlings on them with an imperious wave of her arm ... and if anyone dared to question her actions, she would throw down these words audaciously: My dad is Ling Xiao! Sue me if you dare! You fool!
Truly spoken with the arrogance of a second-generation military elite! Ling Lan instantly slapped this scenario out of her mind. It was really all too familiar — definitely like the setup for a minor villain in a novel, like she was a small boss for the main character to defeat in his quest to level up. If that was the case, then wouldn't Ling Xiao be the final ultimate boss? Godd*mmit, the more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed! Ling Lan could not help but shudder. Could it be that she had not travelled to a future world, but into a novel instead? She really did not want to become this type of 2nd-generation good-for-nothing who would obviously just be cannon fodder!
"Got it!" The rational Ling Lan would naturally not do something so stupid. Right now, she not only had to be responsible for herself, she also had to be responsible for her dad. The two of them, father and daughter, could not become a pair of bosses for that mysterious main character to level up!
Although Ling Lan was thinking this way, her heart still felt a surge of warmth. Ling Xiao's behaviour let her know that this Ling Xiao before her had absolutely no three outlooks when it came to his child 4 ...
********
Early the next day, Ling Lan, who was preparing to leave, was once again struck speechless by the Ling Qin couple's overboard way of doing things. Looking at the countless luggage bags that dominated a great half of the grand hall, even the typically calm Ling Lan could not stop her stoic face from twitching. "What is all this?"
"These are all the things you would need, Young Master!" The insensitive Ling Nanyi did not sense Ling Lan's bewilderment. She tugged on Ling Lan's hand and began explaining everything packed in the bundles of luggage. There were two large bags of clothes, one bag of shoes, two large bags of food and snacks, three large bags of medicinal agents, and four large bags of miscellaneous items. And this was all after she had tried her best to cut down.
Ling Lan could not help but rub her forehead. She was just going to school, not moving house ...
"I just need two sets of clothes, two pairs of shoes, one week's worth of undergarments, and just give me the medicinal agents which were specially brewed by us. Leave the rest." Ling Lan just did not have the strength to correct what the couple Ling Qin had done. She gave a straightforward list of the things she wanted to bring.
"But, how will that be enough ..." Ling Nanyi was still worried, and even Ling Qin, who had been listening quietly at one side, could not help but frown in disagreement at Ling Lan's list.
Ling Lan said helplessly, "All the other things can be solved with money. Do I really need to bring so much?"
Ling Nanyi was enlightened. She nodded repeatedly, saying, "Right, right, right, why didn't I think of that? You're still the smartest, Young Master." That said, she happily began looking for the things Ling Lan had wanted.
However, she had truly stuffed too much together — it really was rather difficult to find the things Ling Lan wanted in the pile of luggage. However, even as she struggled with the luggage, Ling Nanyi did not forget to remind Ling Qin, "Husband, you should contact Master, ask him to send more credits for Young Master to spend ..."
Ling Qin felt what she said was right. So, he immediately took action — without any care for whether Ling Xiao was busy, he called Ling Xiao's communicator directly and conveyed this request to his master.
A few seconds later, on Ling Lan's communicator, two blindingly astronomical amounts of credits were successfully transferred into her account. Without having to ask, Ling Lan just knew that this was definitely the doing of Ling Xiao and Lan Luofeng. It looked like the couple were doing their best to push her onto the road of idle profligacy ...
