Right then, Chang Xinyuan, who had been standing to one side without finding an opportunity to interrupt, suddenly said, "Wait a minute, I have some things to give you all."
Chang Xinyuan then took out six round metal discs which looked like palm-sized hand mirrors from his bag. He tossed them to Qi Long and the other five and explained, "These are miniature beam shields I created. The power they contain is only able to withstand one heavy artillery attack. Bring them along with you. Although they aren't that good, they should still be able to play a protective role at critical moments."
Chang Xinyuan then explained how to use the miniature beam shields. The appearance of this unexpected piece of equipment delighted everyone; any extra bit of protection was naturally good. They had already come so far in this mission — the hope of success was in sight; no one wanted to just die and be respawned back at the start.
Qi Long thumped Chang Xinyuan's shoulder enthusiastically, loudly praising how awesome Chang Xinyuan's little invention was as he did so. The strength behind the thumps almost threw Chang Xinyuan to the ground. Qi Long then requested for Chang Xinyuan to make more of these useful and easily portable small beam shields whenever he had the time. It would be best if each of them could have ten or more of these.
With regards to this rather outrageous request of Qi Long's, Chang Xinyuan was not at all angry. Instead, he was very happy, breaking out into a large grin. For Qi Long to say this meant that he, Chang Xinyuan, was useful to the team — the members of the team needed him. This was a great comfort to him.Along the way, Chang Xinyuan had realised that every member of Ling Lan's team was very strong. Whether it was in terms of mecha operation or physical skills, they were much stronger than the average battle clan, so much stronger than him. This made Chang Xinyuan feel rather inferior and he had even begun to wonder whether he could remain in the clan and actually become a true member.
The brotherly bond among the members of Ling Lan's team made Chang Xinyuan, who had always been alone, endlessly envious. It could be said that Chang Xinyuan had joined Ling Lan's team at the start out of a lack of options — he had no other choice. If he had passed off the chance to join Ling Lan's team, he might very likely have had no other opportunity to ever join a battle clan after that. The cruel truth of the situation pushed him to take the gamble. When Ling Lan had received that SSS-rank mission, he had indeed hesitated. However, Chang Xinyuan was not a person who would give up at the first sign of difficulty, otherwise he would not have resisted the Thunder King's oppression for three years. In the end, he chose to fight along with Ling Lan and the others.
Over this duration of time doing the mission together, he had come to understand the deep bond among the team members. Boss Lan was very cold and somewhat domineering (this was just Chang Xinyuan's perception. Ling Lan was actually not domineering at all, she was just used to keeping a slackface), so it was rather stressful trying to get along with him. At times, just making eye contact with Boss Lan would cause him to have difficulty breathing. He knew that the truly strong would always have a type of aura about them. However, he had never encountered someone like Boss Lan who gave him such heavy pressure. If the Thunder King had exuded the same type of feeling as Boss Lan back then, he probably would not have been able to hold out and would have long chosen to capitulate.
But this domineering, cold, and ruthless Boss Lan would forever stand right at the front of the team and shield them from the wind and rain at the most critical moments. Just like when the magnetic tsunami had hit, Boss Lan had decisively stayed right till the end to ensure all of them safely entered the mainship first. That time, Boss Lan had almost died in the magnetic tsunami.
Chang Xinyuan was well aware that Boss Lan was not just acting. He was very strict with Qi Long and the others' training, perhaps even somewhat brutal about it — he was absolutely a harsh taskmaster. Many times, Chang Xinyuan himself felt that Qi Long and the others were not going to survive. But then, he also saw more than once how Boss Lan would seek out Li Shiyu whenever he had the time to discuss how they could improve the physical constitutions of the team members, along with their endurance and resistance to blows. And all of this was so they continue to stay alive and well, whether it was in Mecha World or in the real world when they fought on a real battlefield in the future.
Boss Lan was a responsible boss and an even more competent parental battle clan leader. Following such a boss, he would never have to worry about being pushed out someday to be a sacrificial scapegoat. Alright, the bits and pieces which had happened over this period of time had caused him to become like Qi Long and the others, beginning to idolise Boss Lan ...
Meanwhile, Qi Long and Luo Lang were the primary and secondary fighters of the team, the strongest in the team in both mecha combat and physical skills combat, but of course they were incomparable to Boss Lan. Back when the New Cadet Regiment had fought against Leiting in the arena, they had been two of the five representatives. Among them, Luo Lang defeated the third strongest in Leiting, while Qi Long fought on even terms with the second strongest of Leiting, only losing unfortunately in the end. All this information had been conveyed to him by Li Shiyu. He had put his entire mind into modifying mecha back then so he was not very clear on the various things that had happened in the military academy, including that arena battle.Xie Yi was very warm and passionate. He was the first among the old members of the team to take the initiative to get to know Chang Xinyuan better. Friendly and cheerful, they got along very well. But Xie Yi's combat ability was not weaker than Luo Lang's by much. Typically, in battle clans, the main and secondary fighters would be stronger while the rest of the fighters would be a bracket lower. However, in Ling Lan's battle clan, almost everybody's strength levels were very close. With Xie Yi's strength, even if he might not be able to be the primary fighter in another battle clan, he more than qualified to be a secondary fighter. But in Ling Lan's clan, due to the fierce competition with rivals as plentiful as clouds, Xie Yi could only be one of the two wings of the team.
Han Jijyun normally looked very austere, as if hard to get along with, and his eyes always shone with a calculative light. Chang Xinyuan had always felt rather nervous around these kinds of strategist-type people, afraid to approach them. But whenever Boss Lan was absent or sitting idly by, Han Jijyun would automatically take responsibility for the command of the team, develop tactics, and make arrangements to keep the team operations running smoothly.
During the time they had lost contact with Boss Lan, Han Jijyun had proved that he was well qualified for the role. Back when they had no way of obtaining certain news regarding Boss Lan, he was the one who daringly decided to use the set of false data they had agreed on at the start. Despite part of it being due to Chang Xinyuan's suggestion, after learning more about hacker abilities later, Chang Xinyuan had greatly admired Han Jijyun's boldness and decisiveness, as well as the other's deep and unwavering faith in Boss Lan ...
Meanwhile, Lin Zhong-qing was usually very plain and unobtrusive, perhaps even a little like an invisible person, always silently doing his things. At first, Chang Xinyuan had somewhat overlooked him. But then, the team went on the move. Every time Boss Lan wanted an update on the materials remaining for the team, he would definitely ask Lin Zhong-qing. This let Chang Xinyuan know that Lin Zhong-qing was the head logistician of the team.
The facts proved that Lin Zhong-qing carried out his role as logistician perfectly. Whenever the team needed something, he would be like the legendary Doraemon, bringing out resource after resource to meet the needs of everyone on the team. It was clear to see that he had a very thorough understanding of each and every member of the team, knowing what they might need. In particular, what surprised Chang Xinyuan was that although he, Li Shiyu, and Li Lanfeng had just joined the team, Lin Zhong-qing had been able to figure out some of their habits within this short amount of time. From there, he had actually been able to also prepare some of the materials they needed ...
Li Shiyu had joined the team with him, but the other was already familiar with Qi Long and the others. At first, when Chang Xinyuan had not known their true identities, he could still tell they already knew each other in real life just by their interactions. Li Shiyu was somewhat aloof — this may just be the characteristic of a dux. Chang Xinyuan did not think there was anything wrong with it; it was normal for those with talent to be a little prideful. Perhaps because he too was a researcher like himself, Li Shiyu was also very straightforward and innocent, maybe even a little soft in Chang Xinyuan's eyes. That was why he was always unknowingly falling for Boss Lan's verbal manipulations, having to follow whatever Boss Lan said in the end.
Perhaps finding Li Shiyu a little pitiful, Chang Xinyuan often chatted with the other. Perhaps because they were both newcomers to the team, or perhaps because they were both researchers, and maybe also because the other could sense his benign intentions, the two of them got along very well, always having something to talk about. This was also how he had found out more about Qi Long and the others. During their conversations, they would often talk about their teammates as well as their exploits and achievements.
The one Chang Xinyuan could not puzzle out was Li Lanfeng. The other had a great attitude, often seen with a warm and gentle smile. He was always extremely respectful towards everyone in the team and seemed easy-going. However, Chang Xinyuan just did not dare to get too close to him. For some reason, the other felt unsafe, without the sense of stable security Li Shiyu gave him. This might be because Li Lanfeng was a spectre, having an innate dangerous air about him. Chang Xinyuan could only use this reason to reassure himself.
In short, Chang Xinyuan had been very happy during this period of time spent with the team. Having been oppressed by the Thunder King for three years, constantly lonely and depressed, Chang Xinyuan treasured the happiness he felt in this brief period of time. He could not bear to lose this again — he really wanted to join the team and become a permanent member, not just a passing guest. Thus, Chang Xinyuan had spent these past few days in a daze, afraid that his hopes would be nothing but a mirage 1 .
This was also why Qi Long's outrageous request had made him so happy — it had made him feel just a bit more integrated into the team. In his joy, Chang Xinyuan's thoughts shifted to the six shooters Boss Lan was going to handle. The best hidden weapon for the task would undoubtedly be the miniature tranquillizer shots Li Shiyu had made. Chang Xinyuan remembered very well that Boss Lan had already used up two as they had passed through the tunnel earlier. Right now, he must only have one left on him.
At this thought, Chang Xinyuan quickly brought out the three tranquillizer shots given to him from his bag, passing them over to Ling Lan as he said, "Boss Lan, I remember that you only have one left. To take out those six men, you'll need another five. I won't be using these 3 of mine. Why don't you take them, Boss?"
Chang Xinyuan's words alerted everyone and they all quickly began rifling through their bags to see if they had any more, all of them wanting to give theirs up for their boss to use.
Ling Lan speechlessly accepted the three tranquillizer shots Chang Xinyuan had handed over. She could not tell them that, as long as she had the materials, Little Four could instantly create countless tranquillizer shots for her ...
Li Lanfeng had just taken out his own set of tranquillizer syringes and was about to hand them over when Li Shiyu beat him to it.
"Here, leader, I won't be using these things. Take it." Li Shiyu decisively passed his three miniature tranquillizer syringes to Ling Lan.
Ling Lan only took two of the three in his hands and said lightly, "In a bit, you'll need to use it."
Ling Lan's words gave Li Shiyu pause, but then Qi Long came up to circle an arm over Li Shiyu's neck and said with a smile, "For those six people we have to deal with, if we want to take them down instantly, we can't lack this creation of yours, you know."
Qi Long's reminder enlightened Li Shiyu. He no longer pressed the matter, taking back that last syringe in his hand. He clamped it tightly between two fingers, prepared to use it when they attacked.
