"What are you saying?" Qi Long rubbed his face roughly, suddenly finding that for someone with an impetuous nature like him, dealing with someone with such a slow reflex arc like [No Mecha Unrepaired] was really a kind of torture.
"Boss Lan said that, if by any chance we got split up, we should use pre-arranged aliases to find one another ..." replied Chang Xinyuan.
"So you're saying that Boss Lan will use an alias? Impossible. If Boss Lan really managed to infiltrate the Swift Dragon base, he would definitely use an identity of one of the fallen soldiers, otherwise the other side will see through him." Qi Long was the first to express disbelief. An alias would be easily exposed once the other side checked their databases.
"But you all said that Boss Lan is a powerful hacker. Couldn't he have changed the database?" Chang Xinyuan did not know much about hackers, so he just shared what he believed.
"How could a database be so easily changed?" Qi Long could not help but burst out into snickers. Even the strongest hacker would never dare to do any hanky-panky in the mainframe."No, perhaps [No Mecha Unrepaired] is right ..." said Han Jijyun, interrupting Qi Long.
Han Jijyun's words instantly shut Qi Long up. When it came to his sworn brother's judgment, Qi Long had full faith. Therefore, he could only rub his nose helplessly and say nothing more.
"Boss Lan's hacking skills are very formidable. I believe that anyone who knows about Boss Lan's ability knows this." Han Jijyun's words received emphatic nods from Qi Long and the other three of Ling Lan's original team. In contrast to Li Shiyu and Chang Xinyuan who only knew Ling Lan for a short time, the four of them who had grown up beside Ling Lan were well aware of Ling Lan's exploits in terms of hacking.
"Thus, who can say that Boss Lan really can't change the database of the command mainship?" At this point, Han Jijyun's eyes were shining, "I believe that Boss Lan would have already predicted our current circumstances. He will definitely add the aliases we agreed to in advance into the database, along with all the other relevant info."
"Once we're at the Swift Dragon base, if someone actually comes to check our identity, we just need to report the fake identity that has been arranged for us," Han Jijyun stated his decision.
"What if team leader Ling did not manage to change it in time ..." Li Shiyu, who was not very clear on Ling Lan's abilities, was still rather worried. He felt it was somewhat inappropriate to use this kind of gambling-like method.
"Since there is the possibility of exposure no matter what we do, we might as well take the gamble. I believe in Boss Lan," replied Han Jijyun with determination.His words drew the agreement of Qi Long and the other three original members. Seeing the determination in their eyes, Li Shiyu could only tuck away his doubts, sigh, and consent. Chang Xinyuan had no objections. As a mechanic who was focused on researching and modifying mecha, as long as the team has made a final decision, he would not have any opposing opinions.
Just like that, another day and half a night later, at 3 o' clock in the morning, the patrol ship safely arrived at the Swift Dragon base.
The Swift Dragon base, which had long been informed, systematically placed all the personnel from the mainship in a large battalion. Qi Long and the others entered the base calmly under the direction of the military personnel of the Swift Dragon Base.
They only took a few casual glances at the situation around them and then they stopped looking around. But those few glances were enough to shock them, because there was an on-duty soldier every one hundred steps within the Swift Dragon base. It looked like the Swift Dragon base was extremely strict in terms of manning the defences.
This was extremely rare among the Federation forces that were highly reliant on technology. It should be known that military bases generally relied on hidden monitors with three hundred and sixty degrees of coverage as the main means of monitoring, and rarely employed so much manpower for defence.
Qi Long and the others appeared unchanged on the surface, but they already had their guards up mentally. It would definitely not be easy to find their boss and complete the final mission under such strict defence. They were well aware that under the close supervision of these people, there were still countless invisible electronic monitoring devices watching them. If they showed any little flaw, they would be uncovered by the surveillance personnel of the Swift Dragon base, and the consequences would be unthinkable.
Due to the impromptu arrangement, the base was unable to provide excellent accommodation for the survivors of the mainship. Regardless of military rank, all of the survivors were assigned ten to a room. Of course, for those top-ranking officers like the commander of the mainship, the conditions were not as bad.
Qi Long's group of seven was assigned along with three other strangers to a room to rest. They had only rested for a few hours, not fully recovered yet, when they were woken up by a knock on the door. It turned out that the Swift Dragon base's support staff were already here to register their information.
Qi Long and the others shared a look. Han Jijyun signalled for them to continue faking sleep. One of the other three in the room opened the door, muttering angrily, and Han Jijyun perked his ears to listen carefully to their conversation.
Hearing that it was someone here to register their information, the attitude of the person who opened the door was tempered. He stated his information — the logistics head of the Leiguang mecha squad of the Jinglong mainship from the Dragon River transport fleet, Yang Yilong!
After the support staff of the Swift Dragon base keyed in his information, he smiled and said with a salute, "Hello, Second Lieutenant Yang, I'm really sorry for disturbing your rest."
Only then did Han Jijyun open his eyes to peek at the other's epaulette. It turned out the other was just a corporal — no wonder his attitude became so respectful. The status of a support soldier on a base was obviously incomparable to the status of a support staff on a military ship. This was also why all soldiers yearned to serve on a ship, because the starting point of those who obtained a position on a ship was much better than those serving on the ground.
At this time, the other people in the room had all been awakened as well. They rubbed at their eyes, yawning. Seeing this, the support staff walked over the closest bed from the door. Chang Xinyuan was the one lying there and he was currently rubbing his eyes. Seeing the staff approach him, Chang Xinyuan's palms could not help but sweat, and the hand rubbing at his eyes faltered for a moment.
Noticing this, Han Jijyun, who was lying one bed behind Chang Xinyuan, quickly yawned and said, "Why don't you register me first? The quicker I'm done, the quicker I can rest."
The support staff of the Swift Dragon base quickly stepped forward in response to approach Han Jijyun.
"I'm Ji Yinglong, mecha member #5 of the Cheetah mecha squad of the Jinglong mainship from the Dragon River transport fleet," Han Jijyun calmly stated the alias they had set up. The reason he had pretended to be asleep at first was so that one of the other three strangers would register first. That way, he would be able to know the name of that mainship. Though this was not any great secret among the official soldiers of the mainship, as outsiders, they really did not know that information. Besides, he also wanted to know what the standard format of responding was.
With Yang Yilong's answer as a template, Han Jijyun knew how he was supposed to answer.
Han Jijyun's reply caused Yang Yilong from the same ship to do a double take. He stared in surprise at Han Jijyun, but out of propriety, he did not speak up to question the other. He too could not be certain whether his own mainship had such a mecha battle clan with such an unfamiliar sounding name.
After obtaining Han Jijyun's response, the support staff of the Swift Dragon base entered the information into the query system of the base. Then, he saluted and said, "First Lieutenant Ji, hello."
Han Jijyun merely saluted back calmly, but he was mentally shouting 'YES' in his heart. As expected, Boss Lan had modified the database. Otherwise, the other would not have responded this way. With that, he was even more certain that Boss Lan had survived the magnetic tsunami and had safely made his way to the Swift Dragon base.
Seeing Han Jijyun pass through successfully, the others' hearts settled. Moreover, Han Jijyun's answer also showed them what they should say.
Li Shiyu and Chang Xinyuan saw that Han Jijyun really managed to pass through the registration check and could not help but be greatly astonished. They now had a brand new understanding of Ling Lan's hacker abilities.
Chang Xinyuan had originally already been extremely admiring of Ling Lan's mecha control skills. Now, he was even more awed by Ling Lan's hacker abilities. He, who had originally held out very little hope for the outcome of this mission, now began to have some confidence. Perhaps they would really be able to complete this SSS-level mission no one else had ever accomplished before throughout history ... At this thought, Chang Xinyuan's heart pounded, but he very soon pushed down this notion.
Chang Xinyuan smiled wryly to himself. Hanging out with Qi Long and these other youths who were like young calves unafraid of tigers, he had unconsciously begun to lose his rationality, actually beginning to also have such unrealistic thoughts ... but, what if, really, by any chance, they really ... Chang Xinyuan took in a deep breath and firmly pushed all these distracting thoughts to the back of his mind. He knew very well that their mission had just begun — the hardest parts were still yet to come.
Meanwhile, this was the first time Li Shiyu was seeing Ling Lan in a positive light. That initially thick-skinned and shameless Ling Lan in his mind, who loved to manipulate others with petty tricks, began to have a positive image. Sure enough, to become an acknowledged boss, he must have his unique charm and capabilities ...
After checking the information of everyone in the room and determining that there was no problem, the Swift Dragon support staff left the room. At this time, Yang Yilong loudly asked Qi Long, "Captain Luo (Qi Long's alias was Luo Ying), who'd expect that you're actually member #2 of the Cheetah mecha team. That's the position of the team ace, you know!"
Typically, #1 was the team leader, #2 was the main ace of the team, #3 was the secondary ace, #4 was a primary fighter, while #5 and beyond were indefinite. Those numbers could be support and logistics members, or they could also be primary fighters. Although Yang Yilong felt that the name of the Cheetah mecha team sounded very unfamiliar, he still expressed his admiration for Qi Long's position.
Qi Long scratched his head in embarrassment and said with a smile, "I'm no ace, our team leader is ..."
His earnest face and this smile made him appear somewhat dopey, but gave others a feeling of extreme sincerity and trustworthiness. Yang Yilong could not help but find himself liking Qi Long.
Yang Yilong exchanged a few more words with Qi Long. When he heard that they still did not know whether their team leader and their #7 member was dead or alive, he was instantly filled with pity. Seeing this, Qi Long angrily said that he believed that his team leader still lived. This heartfelt display of Qi Long's absolute trust made Yang Yilong admire Qi Long even more. That little bit of doubt initially still present in his heart vanished without a trace at this performance of Qi Long's.
When Han Jijyun saw this, he let out a quiet sigh of relief. When he had responded earlier, he had already been worried that the unfamiliar name of the mecha team would arouse suspicion in the minds of the mainship's members. Luckily, Qi Long's appearance was very handy for deceiving others. At the very least, judging from Yang Yilong's present expression, he had not become suspicious of them.
