All these years, Li Lanfeng had not met any other of his kind in the virtual world. This had made him feel rather lonely, and this was also why he had taken an interest in Ling Lan even before he found out Ling Lan was the rabbit. Thinking that the other might have spectre abilities, he had been curious and wanted to find out more about him.
"You are not a hacker but a spectre, right?" Just as the other companions were astounded by what Li Lanfeng had said, Han Jijyun suddenly asked softly.
Han Jijyun's words surprised the rest of the team. They all knew what spectres represented in the virtual world. No wonder they had felt as if a great catastrophe was upon them just now. The dangerous aura they had sensed at that time was most likely spectre power.
Li Lanfeng nodded and said apologetically, "Yes, I'm a spectre. In order to hide my powers, I lied to you all. I'm sorry!"
"I knew this already. You all also know there are hardly any spectres in the civilian world. For the leopard's personal safety, I did not allow the leopard to speak of this," said Ling Lan suddenly, "I hope that this matter ends here. If anyone else finds out the leopard is a spectre, his life will be in danger."Ling Lan's words caused everyone's heart to clench. Indeed, spectres had always been the primary targets of assassination by the enemy nations of the Federation. As long as a spectre's real identity was exposed, their enemies would kill the spectre at any cost. This was also why the Federation military had brought all the spectres in their borders under their control. The Federation needed to protect these spectres, though of course part of the reason was also that they were afraid the spectres not under their control would cause some horrific massacre in the virtual world.
In the virtual world, spectres were synonymous with death gods. With the exception of other spectres, no one else could stand up against spectres. Even the most powerful warrior in the real world or the most authoritative leaders and high-ranking officials were like powerless and defenceless babies before a spectre in the virtual world, helpless if the other intended to kill them.
Thus, the authorities in every nation both loved and feared spectres. They loved spectres because they could become weapons to threaten the enemy nations with, but they were also afraid the spectres would turn on them and harm them. This had also brought about the tragedy of spectres never ever having any freedom in their lives. No authority would be willing to let these frightening beings that could endanger their lives in the virtual world run around unchecked. For their own safety, they inevitably chose to control, or even ruthlessly obliterate these spectres!
"Yes, Boss!" Everyone on the team understood what Ling Lan was saying. Besides, Li Lanfeng had chosen to come clean, which was practically placing his life in their hands — this was the trust he had in his teammates. Qi Long and the others were extremely moved by this. It was from this point on that Qi Long and the others truly took Li Lanfeng as their own companion. He was no longer just a friend of the boss who had joined them halfway, as a member whose status was yet to be determined as temporary or permanent.
Han Jijyun threw a complex glance at Li Lanfeng. He mentally applauded Li Lanfeng's decisiveness in using all he could to obtain the acknowledgement of his companions, allowing him to integrate into the team at a very fast speed. At this time, he had a hunch that Li Lanfeng might be the strongest rival for his position in the team ...
Han Jijyun silently clenched his fists and told himself that he needed to work hard. He absolutely could not lose to Li Lanfeng, this member who had only joined them along the way. He, Han Jijyun, would not give up on the role of military strategist!
Hearing Ling Lan speak up in his defence, Li Lanfeng was extremely grateful. He knew very well that he had never told Ling Lan he was a spectre.This should be what the books call a 'bosom friend' — at critical moments, the other would help him, accept him, and defend him. Li Lanfeng's heart pumped violently once again, a sort of indescribable warmth rippling within it.
Just as everyone was deciding whether or not to continue with the mission, Ling Lan asked Li Lanfeng with a serious expression, "Leopard, can you withstand the attacks of two spectres?" Only spectres could fight against another spectre's abilities — despite having the virtual god Little Four and so being not at all afraid of the spectres, Ling Lan still needed to ask Li Lanfeng this question. After all, on the surface, Li Lanfeng would be the one fending off the spectres.
Li Lanfeng considered the issue seriously and then replied, "In terms of pure defence, there should be no problem. It's just that there are quite a few members in the team. Once we spread out, I'm afraid I might slip up and the opponent might jump on that chance." The connotation was that resisting was not a problem, but their numbers were a little too many since his defence area was not very wide. Once anyone went out of this range of his, he would not be able to guarantee the safety of all the members of the team.
This was the statement Ling Lan was waiting for. She decided to let Qi Long and the others wait here while she and Li Lanfeng went ahead to check things out.
This decision received firm opposition from the rest of the team; they insisted that they wanted to follow Ling Lan in. They also promised that they would listen to orders and stick closely to Li Lanfeng without veering even one step away.
Li Lanfeng saw that none of the team members wanted to retreat and was instantly filled with pride. He spoke up to say, "Rabbit, I will do my best to protect them. Just let them come."
Ling Lan figured there should not be any big problems since there was still Little Four as backup, so she nodded and agreed.
Ling Lan led the way to the largest door. In fact, they all knew that they had been heading downwards all this while — who knows how deep they had travelled. But upon seeing this large door, every member of their group believed they were already at least 200 to 300 metres deep underground.
Ling Lan then used Spiritual Share to display the situation behind the door to all the team members. It was no longer just a few soldiers protecting this door but a medium-sized team of about 15 people.
On both sides of the door were two iron walls, each with three beam machine guns jutting out from shooting ports aimed at the doorway. And at the end of the iron walls, about 30 metres from the main door, six armed soldiers were each holding a heavy firearm and staring vigilantly at the door. There were also three more people hiding in blind corners of the iron walls. They really did not need to worry about those three men though — as long as they did not reveal themselves, they would not be able to attack the group anyway.
Moreover, Ling Lan and the others were not afraid that they would activate some alarm device either, because once they entered, the spectres would notice them anyway. Thus, they would be exposed regardless of whether the alarm was sounded.
That aside, other than the spectres, they now also had to make preparations to handle an unforeseen enemy — mecha warriors. From the image transmitted via Ling Lan's Spiritual Share, they could see that the area behind the door was vast. There was a space of about 50 metres from ground to ceiling. This proved that not only would ground infantry be present; there might also be mecha operators.
The group set aside those potential enemies for now as they began to analyse how they should deal with the current situation. The six beam machine guns were definitely for Boss Lan to deal with — only Ling Lan had the skill to shoot a hidden weapon accurately into the shooting ports to finish off the six shooters inside.
Meanwhile, Li Lanfeng had to deal with the two spectres. Once they entered, he would have to put all his strength into that, so he would not be able to spare a hand to help with the physical fighting. Therefore, the others would have to deal with the six soldiers with heavy firearms at the front on their own.
Qi Long and the other four of the original group were naturally alright with this. Having grown up under Ling Lan's tough love, even the weakest Han Jijyun was not weaker than the others by much. The key was what they would do for the sixth soldier. After all, each of them could only handle one person — that final additional person would be left out, giving him a chance to fire at them.
Qi Long gave it some serious thought and felt there was still a pretty good chance of success. He was just about to say that he would also handle that last person when Li Shiyu, who had been quietly observing from the side, suddenly volunteered, "That sixth person, leave him to me."
This was the first time Li Shiyu had taken the initiative to do something. This surprised everyone, causing them to all turn to look in Li Shiyu's direction. The intent gazes of the team members disconcerted Li Shiyu, whose fair face was instantly painted with a flush.
"Senior Shiyu is from the military medical research specialization. Won't your combat ability be a little weak? If there's an injury or an accident, the loss to the team will be significant. I don't think it's a good idea." Xie Yi was the first to object. If they were injured, they still had Li Shiyu to help patch them up, but if Li Shiyu was injured, they would be helpless to do anything about it if it were serious.
Xie Yi's words made everyone nod silently in agreement, believing that letting Li Shiyu handle the final sixth soldier was not very appropriate. Chang Xinyuan's mouth twitched, about to volunteer himself when Li Shiyu retorted coldly, "Although I'm a military doctor, my combat skills are not at all weak."
Li Shiyu's typically calm eyes were currently blazing with the flames of anger — Xie Yi's words had made him feel insulted. His expression was proud and confident as he retorted. This expression was very familiar — when Li Yingjie was displaying his proud and haughty side, this was the expression he wore. This caused Qi Long and the others to turn their heads away, unable to look straight at Li Shiyu. As expected of a member of the Li family — that pride and arrogance were in their very bones.
"Ahem ahem, actually, Young Master Shiyu's combat ability is very good. Our Li family puts great focus on cultivating its inheritors' combat skills from young. Based on what I know, Young Master Shiyu's combat ability is significantly stronger than Young Master Yingjie's," Li Lanfeng suddenly interrupted to say with a smile. Though his expression seemed endlessly sincere, as if trying to explain on the behalf of Li Shiyu, for some reason Ling Lan felt a dissonance in his bearing and could not help but feel goosebumps rising all over her body.
"Since we're all from the same team, just call me Shiyu in future," said Li Shiyu earnestly to Li Lanfeng, casting a grateful glance at the other. Li Shiyu frankly loathed the address of 'young master'. However, previously in the military academy, he could not reject the title directly because this was after all tied to the pride and status of his identity as a direct descendant of the Li family. But now, since they had become battle clan comrades, Li Shiyu felt that this address was no longer necessary nor appropriate.
Li Lanfeng smiled widely in response and said with a nod, "Alright then, Shiyu."
When he said this, Ling Lan keenly picked up on Li Lanfeng's buoyant mood.
Seeing Li Shiyu's eagerness to fight and with Li Lanfeng speaking up in support, Qi Long and the others could not find a good way to refuse. So they all turned to look towards Ling Lan, waiting for their boss to give the final word.
Ling Lan nodded and said, "Since Senior Shiyu is sure, then it's decided." Her expression turned stern and she added, "Qi Long, Luo Lang, Xie Yi, Han Jijyun, Lin Zhong-qing, Li Shiyu. The six people at the front are up to you all. You must complete your duty."
"Yes, Boss!" "Yes, Leader!" Even though they all responded slightly differently, the timing of their responses was synchronous. Li Shiyu was currently still unable to call Ling Lan 'Boss' like Qi Long and the others.
