Chapter 652: Pleasing to the Eyes!
“Why aren’t you following if you have time spouting pointless nonsense?” Li Lanfeng said coldly as he stood behind him.
Right as Li Yingjie was about to lash out at Li Lanfeng, he turned around and saw the cold and deadly glare from Li Lanfeng’s eyes. Li Yingjie couldn’t help but shudder and quickly ran up to Lin Zhong-qing.
Wuwuwu, Li Lanfeng definitely stayed with Boss Lan for too long. That was why he was affected by Boss Lan’s terrifying aura. Otherwise, how could Li Yingjie be scared of someone who was not from the main family like Li Lanfeng.
Although Li Yingjie was impulsive and arrogant, his instincts were very keen. He knew his limits and knew who he could anger and who he couldn’t. That was why he decisively gave up on being Ling Lan and Qi Long’s enemy… That was why he was so pompous and arrogant for all 10 years at the Central Scout Academy and was not rivaled by anyone. That was also why he stopped being so pompous after entering the First Men’s Military Academy and peacefully living out the rest of his time there as a student.Just now, Li Yingjie felt that if he had lashed out at Li Lanfeng, Li Lanfeng’s expression showed that he was actually going to kill him…
Seeing Li Yingjie leave, Li Lanfeng closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes once again, the coldness had completely disappeared and only warmth poured out from his eyes. He laughed without making a sound, rubbed his eyes and reminded himself softly, “Oh Li Lanfeng, Li Lanfeng, your patience seems to have thinned recently. You actually exposed your real thoughts to that idiot. That’s not good…”
“What’s wrong? You dislike Li Yingjie?” Zhao Jun asked softly from behind.
Lanfeng smiled and said, “No, not really, only a bit jealous. The stuff that we worked so hard to obtain, he was able to it get without lifting a finger. Even the captain is patient with him and tolerates his behaviour…”
Zhao Jun thought that Li Lanfeng was talking about how Li Yingjie was the third generation descendant to inherit the Li family. He nodded and said, “That’s true. Some people are just born lucky… However, I think the reason our captain tolerates Li Yingjie is because he never actually considered Li Yingjie as one of us. That’s why he doesn’t really care.”
“Isn’t he one of us?” Li Lanfeng’s expression fixed to the ground as though he was thinking deeply about something.
“Let’s go, otherwise the Boss is going to be angry.” Zhao Jun reminded.“Okay. We joined in halfway and can’t let Qi Long and the others leave us in the dust,” replied Li Lanfeng.
Zhao Jun didn’t say anything followed the others with Li Lanfeng. Zhao Jun knew that compared to Qi Long, they were still viewed differently. If time cannot compensate for the difference, then they can only use their hard work to receive more of Ling Lan’s trust.
The staff members of Feiyang had already appeared at every corner of the corridors. They were leading the passengers from the recreational areas to their own rooms. After a while, everyone obediently returned to their rooms. Although the staff members didn’t seem to be carrying any weapons on them, it was still clear that there were beam guns hidden under their clothes along with some daggers hidden in the side pockets of their pants. Once the staff members found any enemies hidden on the ship who were trying to create chaos, these staff members would mercilessly kill them in cold blood.
Additionally, it was also crucial that the enemies did not break them down from the inside. Feiyang’s captain to the service members all knew that once the intergalactic space pirates took control of Feiyang, it would be definite death for all crew members. In order for the enemies to not leave any evidence of their attack, everyone on Feiyang must die.
Of course, not every passengers followed the directions to return to their rooms. Some people who were capable had remained in the atrium and prepared to help Feiyang fight this battle to defend the ship.
Ling Lan didn’t go to the atrium. She led her team members into a corridor and arrived at the ship’s emergency stairs.
Two tall and muscular staff members stood at the entrance of the staircase. Seeing Ling Lan’s group arrive, the two staff members decisively pulled out their beam guns and pointed it towards Ling Lan’s group, “Don’t move.”
Ling Lan and the others instantly stopped in their tracks.
“Who are you people? If you’re passengers, please immediately return to your rooms,” said one of the staff members.
Ling Lan glanced at them and put out her right hand. A thin, card like piece of paper appeared between her fingers.
“Toss that card over here.” Suddenly a deep voice echoed from the back of the two staff members.
Ling Lan flicked her fingers and the card instantly shot behind the two staff members.
A huge hand suddenly appeared and grabbed that small card. That was when a 40 to 50 year-old man appeared. The killing intent pouring out of his body showed that he was not be messed with.
“I didn’t think you guys are actually on the mission.” After confirming the card, the man looked at Ling Lan’s group and their innocent expressions. He couldn’t help but sigh and at the same time toss the card back to Ling Lan.
“It seems that others had gone past here before us,” said Ling Lan rhetorically.
“Indeed. You guys are the fourth group.” The man laughed, “You’re new recruits right? A bit lacking in experience.”
Ling Lan only smiled and didn’t answer. Could she actually say that she purposefully dragged out the time and came here late? Their appearances were too innocent and young-looking. If her group was actually the first ones to meet up with Feiyang’s crew, it was possible that the crew would not trust them as the people on the mission. Ling Lan didn’t want to waste time and effort explaining something like this. And now, with a few groups ahead of them, the staff members wouldn’t be as cautious as they were before.
Knowing that Ling Lan’s group was on the mission, the staff members did not block their path anymore. Ling Lan’s group went all the way down the stairs to the first floor. When they passed the second floor, Ling Lan also discovered that there were guards in the corridors. After looking at Ling Lan’s card, the staff members let them pass.
The first floor was divided into two large parts. One part was the rest area for the staff members of Feiyang. There were no passengers in that area and now not even a single staff member appeared in that area. It was probably because all of them had moved out to defend the ship.
The other area was the mechanical area. There was the ship’s engine room, control room, captain’s quarters, etc. It was the most important part of the cruise ship.
Ling Lan’s group of six reached the entrance of the mechanical area. However, it wasn’t the same as what they had previously thought. There were many staff members defending it and there was only one door. However, the six of them knew that this door was not a simple door. It was possible that even an explosive as strong as TNT wouldn’t be able to destroy it.
Ling Lan walked to the door. She took out the card and scanned it at the scanner beside the door. After a clicking sound, the door opened automatically.
After the door opened, there were four armed individuals, all wearing protective vests with military grade beam guns in their hands. The four of them saw Ling Lan’s group of six entering and they had already pointed their beam guns towards Ling Lan’s group. If Ling Lan made any sudden movements, the four of them would mercilessly pull down on their trigger and shoot them.
Right then, Ling Lan calmly waved the card in her hand and calmly said, “23rd Division; Four-star battle team Lingtian; Ling Lan; Rank: Senior Captain.”
Hearing Ling Lan’s words, the four guards relaxed a bit. These four already had experience after having already greeted by three allied groups beforehand. After taking Ling Lan’s card and confirming their identities, the four guards opened the door behind them.
Ling Lan’s group of six walked in and another huge door appeared in front of them. There was actually quite a lot of doors in order to protect the most important part of the cruise ship. At that moment, the door behind them closed automatically. Ling Lan didn’t panic. They had already gone through real life starship training and knew the standard procedures.
As expected, after the door behind them shut firmly, the door in front of them opened. The six of them felt that the gravity on their bodies had changed. Their bodies became much lighter.
Ling Lan hopped just a little bit and her entire body floated forward towards the direction of the large door.
After six of them passed the large door, the door closed firmly once again. Inside the door, an automatic conveyor belt appeared. Ling Lan grabbed onto the handrail on the side of the corridor and was automatically taken forwards.
Not long after, they had arrived at the cargo hold. It was actually where the starship kept mechas. After the doors of the cargo hold opened, the cargo hold could be seen. Staff members were busy arranging the positions of the mechas. The mechas in the cargo hold had already decreased. It seemed that during the time Ling Lan’s group hurried to this location, many mechas had already left to fight the intergalactic space pirates.
Of course, there were still many mecha operators patiently sitting in their mechas and were waiting for the orders from the staff members. That was because the starship was modified into a cruise ship. The 24 ports used for ejecting mechas out of the starship only had eight that could be used. This caused the speed of which the mechas left to fight to be slower than normal.
One staff member looked at the optical supercomputer in his hands with sweat dripping down his face. When the optical supercomputer finished performing the checks for everything, the staff member immediately pulled out the cord connected to the mecha and shouted into his microphone, “B17, the check is complete. Please prepare to join the fight.”
Right as the staff member finished, the mecha operator in mecha B17 heard the clear voice of the starship’s holding area JMC, “Attention B17. Attention B17. You have been arranged to be ejected at port number four. Please get ready to join the fight.”
Under the clear and crisp voice of the JMC, mecha B17, that was originally securely locked in its holding area, instantly unlocked from its place. The mechanism below the mecha automatically moved B17 to port number four.
The mecha operator of mecha B17 took a deep breath and pushed down a button to connect himself to the JMC at port number four, “B17 ready to take off! Request to join the fight!”
“After doing the final checks, B17’s movements are normal, oxygen systems are normal, weapons and equipment are all standard. No issues with the final checks. Take off permission granted!” The JMC who was responsible for port number four made the final checks. After finding no issues, the JMC granted the request for take off.
After the JMC finished, the entire port along with the screen in the mecha began the countdown.
“3, 2, 1… Take off!”
“Whoosh!”
A loud take off sound rang throughout the hold. The port ejected the mecha into space. An intense intergalactic mecha battle was about to begin.
“Boss, where’s our mechas?” Qi Long said passionately. He couldn’t wait and wanted to immediately jump into his mecha and fight with the intergalactic pirates outside.
At that moment, the staff member who had just checked a mecha saw the six of them. He immediately shouted, “Are you mecha operators?”
“Yes,” Ling Lan nodded.
Although the holding area was very noisy, the staff member still clearly heard Ling Lan’s reply. Her voice seemed to ring right beside his ears, but the staff member didn’t notice this detail since he was too busy. After knowing the six of them were mecha operators, he couldn’t help but angrily point to his right and shouted, “Shouldn’t you be going to the changing room to change into your operating gears? Are you guys planning on operating mechas just like that?”
Ling Lan didn’t dare to say anymore. Since they were in the staff member’s territory, they should just follow his arrangements. Thus, she led Qi Long and the others towards the place the staff member had pointed towards.
After entering the changing room, the six of them saw that 1st Division’s Senior Colonel Meng, Meng Shangyuan, along with his team members from the Iron Curtain Battle Team had already finished changing and was about to leave the room.
“Senior Captain Ling. You guys are pretty quick.” Senior Colonel Meng Shangyuan saw Ling Lan and nodded towards her.
“Senior Colonel Meng’s reaction time is much faster. We are still a bit late and should learn from Elder Brothers like you,” Ling Lan replied earnestly.
Hearing her reply, Senior Colonel Meng had a huge smile on his face and said, “Sure. We’re leaving first. We’ll contact each other in the future.” After saying that, Meng Shangyuan waved his hand and lead his team members out of the changing room.
“It seems that they were at the auction that day as well.” After walking out just a few steps away from the changing room, he suddenly remembered this detail.
The only reason Mu Youyun and Qian Jialin were able to return with their lives from the auction was because they were saved by a domain expert and his comrades. Meng Shangyuan had his own way of acquiring information and knew the truth that was covered up.
When Meng Shangyuan’s group entered the changing room, they encountered Qian Jialin and Mu Youyun’s groups leaving the room. Meng Shangyuan had tried to get some information from the two of them, but unfortunately their mouths were tightly sealed and wouldn’t give out any hints. However, Meng Shangyuan still managed to confirm one thing from the calm yet stiff expressions on the two captains’ faces. The confirmation was that the domain expert was definitely part of the Federation and was someone that they knew. It was just that they didn’t dare to believe the facts and imagine who it might have been…
Who was it that could make those two sly foxes show an expression like that? The young and naive faces of Ling Lan’s group appeared inside Meng Shangyuan’s mind. He suddenly had a thought that it was possible that it was Ling Lan’s group who were also at the auction.
Meng Shangyuan couldn’t help but laugh at his ludicrous imagination. He shook his head and put the thought into the back of his mind. At that moment, Meng Shangyuan didn’t know that his ludicrous imagination was actually the truth.
However, Meng Shangyuan shouldn’t be blamed for not believing his imagination. In reality, anyone who didn’t know the truth of the situation wouldn’t connect a domain expert to Ling Lan. That was because Ling Lan was too young and was not recorded in the records of the Federation (The records of Federation had once again fooled someone).
Actually, Meng Shangyuan paid a lot of attention towards Ling Lan and felt good about him in general. In Meng Shangyuan’s eyes, Ling Lan had the passion and hope of an over-achieving hot-blooded youngster. That was what Meng Shangyuan believed to be why Ling Lan had taken the heavy responsibility of being a captain of a four-star battle team.
Meng Shangyuan didn’t know that Lingtian Battle Team was created by Ling Lan. He thought that Ling Lan inherited the position of captain from the previous captain.
In all mecha battle teams, when the captain applied to enter the ace mecha battle clan and was accepted, the captain would have to give up their position. The next captain only needed 80% of members agreeing to the appointment of his new position. Thus, even if he was a newbie, he would still be able to become a captain of a legendary battle team (Of course, this was all in theory).
Meng Shangyuan naturally believed that this was the case of how Ling Lan had become a captain.
However, if they couldn’t maintain the necessary requirements for the battle team’s star level, the star level of the team would decrease. And usually, new captains couldn’t handle the other capable veteran members, especially the members who were ace operators. Not long after, the battle team would split internally due to not obeying their captain, ace operators leaving the battle team, etc. This would decrease the battle team’s star level to three stars, two stars and even possibly one star.
Thus, not every new captain had the courage to take up the mantle and not every battle team had the courage to let a newbie take the position of captain.
In Meng Shangyuan’s eyes, no matter if it was the previous captain of Lingtian or Ling Lan, they were both brave individuals. Even if in the end Ling Lan couldn’t maintain the star level of the battle team, Meng Shangyuan wouldn’t look down upon them because of this reason. Meng Shangyuan even decided that if Ling Lan required any help, he would be happy to lend a helping hand.
People were indeed connected by fate! Other than the 1st Division, there weren’t many people that Meng admired because he was a general working directly under the First Marshal. And as luck would have it, Ling Lan had received Meng Shangyuan’s admiration.
