In a vast hidden chamber, on three large screens as large as the walls they were affixed to, nine stern-faced old men dressed in military attire were gathered. The atmosphere seemed rather tense.
"Sixteen years and after spending uncountable manpower and resources, the final outcome is a crushing defeat. Not only that, we, Caesar, have lost over 30 top-class hackers all at once, as well as 6 top-class spectres," said a grim-looking general on the screen with a document in his hands, tone displeased.
"I can only say that the Huaxians are just too sly, secretly sending over so many spectres, ruining our project-T in one fell swoop. Meanwhile, as our men were caught unprepared, they were almost utterly annihilated. If we hadn't had another hidden team lurking there, we might not have learned of what had transpired there even now." A general with a kindly appearance on the screen could only smile bitterly and say.
"According to information from above, Huaxia 1 did not escape unscathed. One of their top-class spectres ranked in the top ten was sacrificed in this campaign ..." another cold-faced general interjected.
"But our Caesar lost four top-class spectres ..." the expression of a general on a different screen instantly turned dark at these words, "One Huaxian spectre is not at all enough to compensate.""Yes, and there are still those 30 top-class hackers to account for. This campaign has almost gouged us deeply. The next time there is a virtual war, it would be very easy for us to fall into a passive position. We can't just forget this grievance," said a general from the side in agreement.
"We must make the Huaxians pay!" hollered a general at the outermost edge, face flushed with anger.
"We must make the Huaxians pay!" Another general on the same screen agreed.
"We must make the Huaxians pay!" Very soon, all of the generals were in accord.
In the centre screen, the oldest general who had been silent all this while plucked the pipe he had been smoking from where it was perched on the corner of his lips, and finally said, "It's about time for those allies of ours who want to share a piece of the pie to contribute something now. We must give the smug and complacent Huaxia a bloody lesson."
"According to the latest news from the intelligence bureau, a prodigy mecha operator has appeared in Huaxia's First Men's Military Academy. Some time ago, he managed to advance to ace operator status at just 19 years of age. He's lauded as the second coming of Ling Xiao ..." At this time, a general shared the latest news he had obtained with the others.
"Ling Xiao!" When the present generals heard Ling Xiao's name, their gazes instantly became dark. Several were even gnashing their teeth as they muttered Ling Xiao's name repeatedly. It was clear to see that these generals were extremely fearful of Ling Xiao."We can't let Huaxia have another Ling Xiao, otherwise our Caesar will truly be down against Huaxia by a head." A general finally voiced the hidden thoughts of all the generals there.
Ling Xiao was the youngest operator to ever advance to god-class, and then he had also obtained the most well-balanced IN god-class mecha which was considered the most powerful IN mecha by all the nations. From then on, anyone who understood the intricacies of IN god-class mecha knew that the strongest person in the human world in future would definitely be Ling Xiao without a doubt. This was also the major reason why they had conspired with other nations sixteen years ago to eliminate Ling Xiao. They could not allow Ling Xiao to grow further and become the strongest in the world. Caesar, which considered itself the strongest nation, just could not allow the strongest person to belong to another nation. That would be an absolute disgrace to them.
Unfortunately, all the effort and manipulation they invested had still been unable to eliminate Ling Xiao. Now, it would no longer be as easy to harm Ling Xiao as it had been at the start. The day Ling Xiao would become the strongest was within sight — despite their reluctance, they could only accept this fact. Still, one Ling Xiao was already the limit of their tolerance. The title of 'second Ling Xiao' had undoubtedly triggered the neuroses of the Caesarians ...
"Since Huaxia has destroyed so many of our high-end talents, we must destroy their future hope!" The oldest general in the centre screen gripped his pipe, a ruthless smile appearing on his face. "The First Men's Military Academy of Huaxia ... Hmph, did the Huaxians really think they could conceal him away so perfectly?"
The old general's words made the eyes of all the other generals light up. Unified in their decision, the nine great generals very quickly formulated their revenge plot. They called this action plan —— Operation Kill the Fledgling!
********
Right then, the Huaxia Federation was unaware that danger was about to befall the First Men's Military Academy which they had always taken so much pains to keep concealed and secreted away. Military headquarters knew the Swift Dragon base had been occupied by an unidentified faction, and that there were even many spectres there. In order to ensure the stability of the virtual world, Huaxia had dispatched a fleet along with as many as ten spectres, with three of those being spectres ranked in the top ten. With the commander who had escaped from the Swift Dragon base leading them, they had hurried towards the Swift Dragon base.
But during this period of coming and going, the Caesarians lurking in the Swift Dragon base had managed to retreat. Only after finding the surviving adjutant did they learn that this group of people had come from the Caesar Empire. The Huaxia Federation was livid. They raised a serious protest to Caesar, but the Caesar Empire denied all allegations, brushing it all off as slander. They had never sent any hackers or spectres to invade the virtual world of the Huaxia Federation.
The two nations began to quibble on the diplomatic front — and while the attention of everyone in the Huaxia Federation was focused on the diplomatic byplay between the two nations, several countries had begun to move surreptitiously.
All the turmoil occurring on the diplomatic front did not affect the enlistment assessments of the First Men's Military Academy. After a week of tests, the assessment at the military academy was nearing its conclusion. Each of the various great army divisions was making their final candidate choices. The number of people taken in by each division was not much — in order to obtain the best and most suitable talented cadets for their divisions, the assessors had no choice but to consider their options again and again.
Ling Xiao's 23rd Division assessment team finally came to a consensus and passed a final shortlist of names to Ling Xiao. Ling Xiao browsed through the list casually, and then said, "That'll do."
"General, don't you want to think on it a little more?" The adjutant by his side finally could not hold back from asking.
Ling Xiao cast a puzzled glance at him and then asked with a smile, "Adjutant Qiao, what do you think? It's okay, we can study this together."
Ling Xiao was not that type of strict general — constantly smiling and affable, his subordinates always felt as if greeted by a spring breeze while with him. Even as they idolised him, they were not afraid to speak their minds.
Adjutant Qiao daringly flipped to one of the pages of the list and pointed out several names. He reminded softly, "These few people, not too long ago with Young Master Lan ..." Ling Xiao peered at him with a half-smile, causing adjutant Qiao to turn red and quickly change his form of address, "With Ling Lan ... they had gone up against each other in a wagered arena fight. They were defeated by Ling Lan's group. One of the members of their clan had initially applied for enlistment with our division, but ended up missing the assessment this time due to severe bodily injury. According to Major Qin Feng who assessed them, he inadvertently overheard them discussing their intentions to take revenge against Ling Lan."
Ever since knowing that Young Master Lan was the general's son, these assessment team members who had come here with the general had long taken the effort to learn all they could about everything that had happened since Young Master Lan had entered the school. When they found out that the first year New Cadet Regiment led by Young Master Lan had defeated the higher grade Leiting Mecha Clan, which was also the number one faction in the military academy, in a wagered fight, they could not help but be proud. As expected of the son of their god-class operator General Ling Xiao — already so strong at such a young age.
Ling Lan had been fully accepted by them — this made their hearts lean infinitely towards Ling Lan's side. Even if Huo Zhenyu and his group were indeed some rare talents, the very idea that those boys were planning to retaliate against Ling Lan several years later made the men rather unhappy. If not for their ethics as soldiers preventing them from being biased and abusing their power, they would have long swept those boys out from the list.
In the end, they still included them in the final shortlist, but they still felt disgruntled about it. This was also one of the reasons why Adjutant Qiao had brought the issue up with General Ling Xiao.
At these words, Ling Xiao could not help but laugh, "Isn't this great?"
Ling Xiao's words left Adjutant Qiao speechless, unsure what his general meant by them.
"I'm still afraid that when Ling Lan joins my division later on, you uncles will take care of him too much. Without any challenge or competition, he might become slack," mused Ling Xiao, "With these people around, it'll make things a little more difficult for him. A greenhouse cannot foster strong sprouts 2 ."
After saying this, Ling Xiao glanced at the adjutant with a half-smile and added, "In our 23rd Division, there is no such thing as privilege or status. No matter who they are, everyone has to start from the beginning and go through all the necessary tests and trials. No one is exempt. If these people truly have the skills, then cultivation should be given as appropriate. Don't manipulate things in any way. If in future, Ling Lan is really bullied by them, that would just prove that he isn't strong enough. What right does he have to say anything if he loses?"
Adjutant Qiao was startled by the knowing look in Ling Xiao's eyes; it was as if he had been seen through. His back was instantly coated in cold sweat, and he could only console himself desperately by telling himself that he was overthinking things. Hearing what Ling Xiao said, he quickly nodded repeatedly in agreement, no longer daring to say more.
After obtaining Ling Xiao's final approval, Adjutant Qiao swiftly departed from Ling Xiao's living quarters to hand the list over to the military academy. Tomorrow, this name list would be announced along with the name lists of all the other divisions on the official web page of the First Men's Military Academy. This also marked the end of their assessment tasks here. After one rest day, they would leave the First Men's Military Academy.
Ling Xiao watched indifferently as the adjutant left, a trace of coldness in his eyes. When he turned to return to his room to rest, he found his official bodyguard, Lin Zhengnan, staring at him with a serious look on his youthful face. His gaze was filled with rage and disapproval. At the sight of him, Ling Xiao could not help but quirk a brow and ask, "Lil' Lin, you have something to say?"
"Adjutant Qiao's behaviour earlier was obviously fishy. Why do you still trust him this much, General?" Being able to become Ling Xiao's personal bodyguard was his luck and fortune. Since he was small, he had always idolised Ling Xiao, wanting to become Ling Xiao's left or right arm, his most trusted subordinate.
Many times, Lin Zhengnan could tell that Adjutant Qiao's actions were obviously intended to mislead Ling Xiao, trying to get Ling Xiao to do something disreputable, such as abusing his power for personal reasons. Young as he was, he could no longer refrain from speaking up and asking the general he revered like a god about the matter ...
