"So worked up? He really won't be a very good source of information then. Since he's useless now, then let's send him off on his final journey," said Ling Lan lightly to Li Lanfeng, turning back to look at him.
Li Lanfeng, who had already killed two people, was rather numb by now. Receiving Ling Lan's order, he did not even stop to think — once more he unleashed his spectre power and obliterated this hacker.
The other hackers saw how cold and ruthless the other side was, clearly showing themselves as the type of people who would kill without batting an eye. In addition, the T-virus they had pinned so much hope on had mysteriously vanished, so their hearts had abruptly lost a major supporting pillar. Consequently, quite a few men actually could not help but slump to the ground.
"Now we can have a proper inquiry. Qi Long, bring the others to me one by one for me to ask them some questions, and then we can compare their answers. Anyone who dares to lie, we'll kill ..." Ling Lan's sharp gaze swept over the dozen or so hackers present and gave Qi Long her orders.
Qi Long acknowledged the order and asked the other members of their team to separate the hackers to begin the one-on-one questioning, preventing them from having any chance of colluding. At this time, one of the hackers suddenly turned his head to look at Ling Lan and asked, "If we tell the truth, can you guarantee that we will live?"These words made the eyes of the remaining hackers light up, and they turned nervously to stare at Ling Lan, anticipating her reply.
Ling Lan glanced coolly at the other and the corners of her lips tilted up slightly. This noncommittal half-smile made these hackers feel a chill permeate their hearts ...
Ling Lan tapped her fingers against the armrest. Each tap prompted the hearts of these hackers to jump violently in response, till Ling Lan finally said, "If you all want to live ... that all depends on how you all perform." That said, she did not give the hackers any other chances to speak. With a wave of her right hand, she motioned for Qi Long and the others to continue their questioning.
Seeing Qi Long and the others begin to busy themselves with their assigned task, Li Lanfeng, who was standing beside Ling Lan, did not go over to help. He leaned over and asked Ling Lan quietly, "If they all really speak the truth, are we really going to let them go?"
Ling Lan raised her eyebrows and asked, "What do you think?"
Li Lanfeng frowned and replied, "Letting them go just feels wrong somehow. But we also have no way to keep them here forever ..."
Ling Lan pinched her left index finger reflexively with her right hand, her gaze shadowed with deep darkness. In the end, a gleam of ruthlessness flashed through her eyes and she said decisively, "They'll need to remain here forever ... I cannot let them take any information about us back with them!" Ling Lan knew well that this decision of hers was extremely harsh and brutal, meaning the end of the lives of these dozen or so people right here. These people might not have done any great harm to the world and were perhaps just common soldiers who were loyal to their home country. However, in order to protect these members who followed her, she could not avoid but be an executioner now.Ling Lan was well aware that their appearances had been modified by Little Four to look different from their original forms. However, even so, she was not confident that this could withstand the intensive investigation of a nation, or perhaps even that of many nations — there was always the possibility she might miss something. She could not let crisis befall her companions.
Ling Lan's words shook Li Lanfeng badly. He understood what Ling Lan was trying to say — whether or not the other party cooperated, Ling Lan was going to kill them.
Li Lanfeng was a smart person — he instantly understood why Ling Lan had made this decision. They were still a group of cadets. Right now, they were now still extremely weak and vulnerable. Without the protection of the military, if they were discovered by the enemy, their final outcome would inevitably be death. Regardless of which country these people were from, they could not let these people go. Moreover, they also could not take the initiative to request Federation military protection. If the Federation learned of their existence, especially about him, Li Lanfeng, the government would certainly never allow him to continue living freely on the outside. Spectres were not allowed to be free of the military's control.
Li Lanfeng knew very well that if not for him, Ling Lan could have just reported this matter to the Federation military. The outstanding performance of Ling Lan's team this time would definitely amaze the military; this group of prodigies were sure to shine in the future. Entering the military system early to be given focused cultivation by the military, the futures of Ling Lan's team would only become better and not worse. It could be deduced that Ling Lan had given up on the honours and resources within easy reach, choosing to conceal this matter instead, all because of him, Li Lanfeng.
Li Lanfeng's heart felt a little hot. Looking at the cold as ice and seemingly emotionless Ling Lan who was actually very kind, his heart, which had initially been wavering at the thought of having to kill so many people, became instantly steady. The rabbit was willing to bear this sin for him ... then how could he be so weak?
"Leave it to me." The hesitation in Li Lanfeng's gaze was swept away and a savage light silently surfaced within his eyes. He could not let the rabbit's consideration go to waste. In terms of ruthlessness and decisiveness, he was still too far from the rabbit. If he wanted to become a companion who could fight beside the rabbit, he would need to make his heart become much fiercer and harder.
Li Lanfeng's reply made Ling Lan raise her eyebrows, a trace of surprise flashing through her eyes. Ling Lan knew very well that this was Li Lanfeng's first time killing people, because when he had killed the first man, she had clearly seen Li Lanfeng clench his fists tightly, and she had even heard the other bite down so hard that his teeth sounded like they would break.
Ling Lan had thought that Li Lanfeng would need a period of psychological adjustment. Even she herself, when she had killed someone for the first time in the learning space, had almost broken down mentally and had thrown up almost all of her guts ...
However, the treatment provided by the learning space was not psychological counselling but endless slaughter. It made you kill until you were numb to it. Every time Ling Lan thought back on this, she could not help but feel some lingering fear and silently rejoice that she had been mentally strong enough, that she had not been driven insane by the torment.
Ling Lan's initial plan was to let Little Four wrap things up and kill all of these people after she had led the team away from this place. However, when Li Lanfeng had taken the initiative to ask about Ling Lan's plans, an impulse had made Ling Lan admit her real thoughts to the other. She had indeed wanted to see how far the leopard could go. Would he be unable to understand her decision? Or would he refuse to take action out of compassion ...
Ling Lan had considered many possibilities, but she had never expected Li Lanfeng to be able to adapt to the psychological pressure of killing so quickly and actually volunteer to execute this task himself. Ling Lan was well aware that Li Lanfeng was speaking honestly. He had instantly abandoned his weakness to become decisive and ruthless. Ling Lan was silently awed by Li Lanfeng's performance; there were indeed those who were born for the darkness — this leopard was truly not a good person ...
Even as Ling Lan was silently exclaiming in her heart, she was extremely happy to hand over the task of cleaning up to Li Lanfeng. After all, it was always nice to have someone who was willing to share some of the pressure. Just imagine, taking the lives of so many people at once ... even Ling Lan who had been trained by the learning space to be extremely ruthless could not be completely calm.
Very soon, Qi Long and the others brought the confessions of those ten people over. Ling Lan rapidly scanned through the confessions and then pointed out seven of the ten people and said with a cold smile, "Seeking death on your own? That's fine. Leopard, satisfy their wishes."
Having come to a realisation, Li Lanfeng would no longer hesitate. Ling Lan's voice had barely faded when his spectre power poured out and easily erased those seven people. Just like with D2 and D3, they became energy particles of the virtual world.
Seeing how ruthless Ling Lan was — giving a kill order without even asking anything — the remaining few people despaired, no longer holding any wishful hopes of survival.
Ling Lan stared with interest at the faces of the remaining few and then said with a quirk of her lips, "You all still at least said some things that were true, unlike those seven who were spouting complete nonsense. Now, I'll give you all one more chance. I hope that this time, you all won't let me down."
Ling Lan's words caused the despairing eyes of those few people to once again blaze with the desire to live. Being led away for questioning once more, they were extremely cooperative this time, to the extent that they even volunteered some information which Qi Long and the others had not thought to ask for.
By Ling Lan's side, Li Lanfeng asked curiously, "Were all those seven people truly lying?"
Ling Lan replied evenly, "How could that be? It's not like I verified anything ... but there is always the need to sacrifice some people to make sure the remaining people no longer dare to conceal anything."
Only then did Li Lanfeng understand that Ling Lan had simply chosen those seven people randomly, using their lives to terrify the remaining survivors into compliance. It could be imagined that the confessions this time would be even more valuable. Li Lanfeng could not help but feel a pang of dejection course through his heart. He had initially been extremely confident in his strategic mind, but it seemed like he was no match for the rabbit in this as well ...
The new confessions were out very quickly. Ling Lan browsed through them rapidly and was satisfied. She could already confirm that these people were from the Caesar Empire. Back when she had first heard of the Caesar Empire, she had already felt that this empire was definitely not as friendly as it would seem on the surface. No one would be so magnanimous as to share their spot as hegemon, which was especially true for a nation as strong as the Caesar Empire ...
Now, from the looks of it, her first impression had been right. In order to deal with the Huaxia Federation, the Caesar Empire had put in quite a bit of effort. Spending 16 years to successfully cultivate the embryo of a T-virus, they were truly tenacious.
"Who'd have expected it to be Caesar? Many soldiers in our Federation think well of the Caesar Empire. Fighting against the Twilight Empire all these years, Caesar has always supported us on the surface." Han Jijyun was the one who had brought the information over. Having looked through this info a step before Ling Lan, he could not help but sigh.
"For a small empire with only 1% of our planetary domain to fight us for so many years is impossible without the backing of these great nations." Ling Lan flicked the papers in her hand and said with a cold smile, "Plus, the profits of war are what these large nations like to earn most."
Just like those great nations in her precious world, in order to restrain the development of other nations, there were all kind of measures executed both in the open and behind the scenes, such as helping other smaller nations go up against those countries which were rising in power. The methods of the Caesar Empire were truly cut from the same cloth as those great nations back then — as expected of the descendants of one of those great nations.
Han Jijyun dipped his head in deep contemplation at those words. He felt that what Boss Lan said made a lot of sense. Even though the Federation was so powerful and possessed such vast territory, it was still taxing to fight a war on three sides, and this was still with the concerted efforts of the Federation. As far as he knew, the Twilight Empire was not stable internally. It was constantly plagued with civil unrest, so from where did it get the financial and material resources to fight such a long protracted war with the Federation? It stood to reason that there must be other nations involved.
