For context, it should be known that an exceptional mecha engineer could add several layers of protection to a mecha operator's mecha. To be blunt, a mecha engineer would give mecha operators better rates of survival — this was why outstanding mecha engineers were enthusiastically sought after by mecha battle clans, making them hot pursuit targets of all battle clans.
However, everyone was destined to be disappointed. Annoyed by all the attention, Chang Xinyuan simply announced that he was already a fixed member of Lingtian. That meant that unless the battle clan he was in was destroyed, it was impossible for Chang Xinyuan to transfer to a new battle clan.
Tianji's defeat rendered the academy administrators completely speechless, and it also made all the other factions which were already wary of Lingtian even more apprehensive. Lingtian's defeat of Dwotong could still be said to be a confluence of luck and circumstances in Lingtian's favour, but their defeat of Tianji was achieved through a straightforward show of strength. The number of mecha experts within Tianji was just slightly less than that in Leiting — even the number three faction, Wuji, had had no choice but to collaborate with Li Lanfeng and Zhao Jun to compete with Tianji; it was clear to see how deep Tianji's power reserves went.
Yet, it was precisely this kind of mecha clan, one that even Wuji found difficult to deal with, which had lost in such a clear-cut manner to Lingtian. This was absolute proof that Lingtian was not a mecha clan which was surviving by luck; Lingtian had truly risen by its own power.
********Planet Southcrest:
In the Strategic Planning Division of the 23rd Division, He Xuyang 1 , who had secured the position of head adviser to General Ling Xiao, unexpectedly received an invitation letter from his subordinates. When he opened and read it, a slight smile appeared on his face. He did not detain the invitation as he would typically, instead sliding it smoothly into the pile of documents to be sent over to General Ling Xiao for perusal.
This move surprised his deputies. It should be known that there were almost over a dozen of these kinds of invitations every month, but General Ling Xiao had long ago instructed that they should refuse all of them. The workload involved in establishing the 23rd Division was massive — General Ling Xiao just did not have the time and leisurely mood to deal with these sorts of boring gatherings or events.
"This ... will it be okay?" When the second adviser Tong Zhiying 2 saw He Xuyang pick up the stack of documents with the invitation within it, ready to go to General Ling Xiao's office, he could not help but ask and give a cautious reminder. Even though General Ling Xiao was always extremely friendly and affable, Tong Zhiying, as He Xuyang's partner, did not want to see him commit any mistakes that might cause him to be reprimanded by General Ling Xiao.
He Xuyang smiled at Tong Zhiying and explained, "This one is different ..."
Tong Zhiying's heart clenched and he quickly nodded to show he understood. He did not ask any more questions, but turned his gaze back onto the document in his own hands. Those who had managed to climb up so far to get to a position like his were all very cautious and discreet people — they knew not to casually ask about secrets they should not know.
He Xuyang's smile deepened — this was also something he greatly appreciated in Tong Zhiying. In addition, the other was exceptionally skilled. He Xuyang was very happy to be partnered with him. However, regarding matters which concerned Young Master Lan, before General Ling Xiao announced their relationship to the public, He Xuyang decided he had better still keep everything secret.That's right, this very different invitation had something to do with Young Master Lan. Half a month later, the highly anticipated All-Federation Military Academy Grand Mecha Tournament would begin. On each occasion, the commanders of every army division would receive an invitation card to attend and view the grand tournament. The 23rd Division, as a newly established standing army, had also received an invitation this year.
And the reason He Xuyang treated this invitation so seriously was that he had heard General Ling Xiao inadvertently bring up the topic a few days ago. He had mentioned that Young Master Lan, who was only in his second year, had already created history in the First Men's Military Academy. He had led his clan in a victorious upset over the original number one faction in the academy and had then moved on to successfully defend his faction's new position, thus clinching the representation rights for this Mecha Grand Tournament.
An excellent adviser needed to understand the mind of their leader. He believed that General Ling Xiao would definitely want to observe his son's outstanding performance with his own eyes. General Ling Xiao should be extremely willing to see this invitation letter.
"Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong!" Ling Xiao, who was focusing intently on a document in his hands, heard the alert of the door and softly called out, "Enter!"
The voice-activated door opened automatically following Ling Xiao's call, and He Xuyang strode through it holding a tall stack of documents.
Ling Xiao saw that great stack of documents in He Xuyang's hands and kneaded his forehead in consternation, saying, "Why are there so many documents every day? Are you all slacking off and bringing all sorts of nonsense documents to me as well now?"
He had clearly instructed his men to only bring those extremely critical and vital documents to him for approval — all other documents could just go to his three chiefs of staff to deliberate and decide on.
He Xuyang speechlessly put the stack of documents down on General Ling Xiao's large desk. Recalling the documents piled up as high as a mountain on his own office desk, He Xuyang said sullenly, "General, our Strategic Planning Division is so filled with documents that we hardly have anywhere to stand anymore. If you still have any complaints at this point, don't blame all of us in the Strategic Planning Division for going on strike!"
He Xuyang's words reminded Ling Xiao of the cluttered and hectic environment of the Strategic Planning Division — everyone there worked as if they were fighting a war. Ling Xiao could not help but shudder just thinking about how dizzying the constantly shifting environment was over there. Fine. He Xuyang's threat had a lot of weight behind it — if the Strategic Planning Division really went on strike, his 23rd Division was sure to be dead in the water 3 .
Thus, Ling Xiao could only point at those documents and ask, "What are these documents?"
"These are the letters of appointment we've drawn up for the latest batch of officers. Please review them. And this is the proposal to set up a Special Forces team ... after collective discussion, the Strategic Planning Division has decided that it is necessary to have one. Also, this one is ..." He Xuyang handed over the documents one by one, explaining their contents as he did so. In the end, he took out an invitation and said, "This is the invitation for a special guest viewing of the Mecha Grand Tournament. They want to know if you will be attending, General."
Ling Xiao's head was already spinning from the great stack of documents earlier. He did not hear what He Xuyang said clearly, only catching the words 'invitation', so he quickly spoke up to refuse, "Like before, refuse them all."
However, He Xuyang did not take back the invitation card as Ling Xiao had expected, instead opening it and placing it right on top of the document Ling Xiao had been looking at. This move stunned Ling Xiao who did not know how He Xuyang could be this daring ...
But Ling Xiao was well aware that He Xuyang would never do such an audacious thing for no reason. Thus, doing so, he had to have his reasons. Consequently, Ling Xiao turned his attention to that invitation:
"Respectfully inviting the commander of the 23rd Division, General Ling Xiao, to attend the 279th Military Academy Mecha Grand Tournament. The time will be ..."
"The Military Academy Mecha Grand Tournament will be starting in just half a month?" said Ling Xiao as he lifted the invitation, his face filled with pleasant surprise.
"That's why I wanted to ask you, sir, if you would be attending," said He Xuyang helplessly. He still remembered how General Ling Xiao had specially disguised himself and went undercover as an assessment officer to sneak into the First Men's Military Academy last year just to see Young Master Lan. Now that there was an officially endorsed chance to see Young Master Lan, he just could not believe that General Ling Xiao would be able to let it go by.
Sure enough, General Ling Xiao replied firmly, "Attend, I must attend! And I'll bring my wife with me."
He just knew that this invitation was special! He Xuyang nodded calmly, replying that he would return a letter of confirmation to the military. Only then did he sedately bid farewell to General Ling Xiao and take his leave.
Hmm, perhaps he should also take a vacation and go with General Ling Xiao to the Mecha Grand Tournament. Speaking of which, he had not seen Young Master Lan for almost half a year ... that icy youth who had such a distinctly different aura from General Ling Xiao and yet was equally charismatic. The chief of staff He Xuyang thought to himself as he walked out of General Ling Xiao's office.
********
At this moment, Ling Lan, who was deeply engrossed in her close-combat ace mecha training, had no idea that her old man had already decided to attend the Mecha Grand Tournament, or that he would bring her mum along as well to meet her. After close to half a month of operating and researching with a real mecha, Ling Lan now finally understood that operating a real ace mecha was not so simple. Real-world operation was still somewhat different from operation in Mecha World — ultra-difficult mecha moves that could be executed smoothly in Mecha World were not so easy to pull off in the real world due to the limitations of her physical body.
Of course, this was not to say that Ling Lan could not do them — however, after she executed those moves, Ling Lan's body would incur varying degrees of internal damage. Ling Lan felt rather helpless on this matter. The difference between the physical constitutions of men and women, which she had never taken to heart initially, had finally reared its ugly head when it came to ace mecha operation. Ling Lan had cultivated a tough constitution almost on par with Qi Long's through the use of countless gene agents and practice of her Qi exercises. And yet, a flaw had still been exposed during ace mecha operation.
"It looks like the physical differences due to gender are not so easily resolved." No wonder there were no female mecha operators who managed to climb to the top in this world — the difference in gender also meant a difference in physical endurance; a female's body was still a little weaker. Ling Lan knew that if she wanted to progress further and advance to imperial level, or even that supreme god-class level, she would need to find a way to break through the limitations of her body. Otherwise, everything would merely be empty talk.
"Maybe, this is what Instructor Number One was talking about, because my body is incompatible with the Dao I've chosen to walk. Perhaps when my body and my Dao become compatible, then the physical issues restricting my progress will no longer exist." Ling Lan had this feeling in her heart. Even though she was rather anxious inside, Ling Lan knew rationally that hurrying was pointless. To solve these issues, she needed a serendipitous chance. Unfortunately, this chance was not so easy to come by.
"Beep, beep, beep!" While deep in thought, Ling Lan suddenly heard her communicator ringing. She opened the device and glanced at it, and found that it was actually Wu Jiong calling her. Surprised, she accepted the call and immediately heard Wu Jiong yelling on the other end, "Boss Lan, are you free?"
Glancing at the time displayed on her mecha's screen, Ling Lan saw that it was already a little after three o'clock. Considering that there wasn't much time before class would end, she said, "What's up?"
Wu Jiong received the implicit permission to go on and said, "If you're free, Boss, I'll call all the team leaders of the battle clans in the regiment, as well as all the outstanding student members of the various major specializations in the regiment to come to headquarters for a meeting ..."
Ling Lan frowned and asked, "A meeting?"
As if picking up on the displeasure in Ling Lan's tone, Wu Jiong hurriedly explained, "Boss, could it be that you've forgotten that, yesterday, the school administrators have already handed over the representation rights of the Mecha Grand Tournament to our mecha clan? Qi Long, Li Yingjie and I have discussed things at length yesterday and think that it is very hard to determine who should be the representatives, so we want to open a meeting and brainstorm together."
