Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

Ling Xiao had been waiting for the good news at home. He finally heard that the people from the Disciplinary and Investigation Committee left dejectedly, and to prevent them from being embarra.s.sed again, they called the headquarters immediately and asked for a military s.h.i.+p to immediately send them away from Planet Southcrest.

Ling Xiao now knew his daughter must have destroyed them brutally, so he quickly asked his daughter about the juicy details of what had happened. When he knew that his daughter made used of his best hand, he was delighted. As expected of his daughter. Ling Xiao started praising his daughter to the sky.

Ling Lan's prank broke the tension between Ling Xiao and Lan Luofeng. They started becoming lovey-dovey again, so Ling Xiao was in a good mood. Hence, his subordinates had a good time too.

For the past few days, Ling Xiao had been constantly releasing a cold aura. The officers around him couldn't handle it. They felt that they were living in an ice age. It was freezing.

The entire 23rd division received many resources from the land clearing mission, so they managed to grow even more rapidly. Many people were envious of them but when they saw the dejected people from the Disciplinary and Investigation Committee leaving, they suppressed their desires to create trouble. Ling Xiao could put up with them offending him once but if they continued to provoke him again and again, he would definitely take revenge.

Ling Lan pa.s.sed this crisis smoothly. For a period of time, 250 Ace Mecha Clan remained peaceful. After Kang Lincheng and his group were taken away by the law enforcement team of the 23rd division, the 40 remaining mecha operators were awakened from their delusions. 250 Ace Mecha Clan was no longer the hopeless mecha clan they knew.

All the mecha operators who got thrown into 250 Ace Mecha Clan were once famous. Besides those that had given up on themselves entirely, no one liked being chased out from their mecha clan. They had their pride. Thus, when they saw Regiment Commander Ling showing his hand, they got fl.u.s.tered.

They felt lucky that Regiment Commander Ling gave them another chance. If they were unable to reach the standard of an ace mecha operator within a month, they would either be sent to normal mecha clans or be given the option to leave the military.

They no longer had a fluke mind. Without the black sheep like Kang Lincheng, these mecha operators managed to reach the minimum criteria for the test and got to stay at 250 Ace Mecha Clan. Ling Lan felt that these mecha operators had not unleashed their full potential yet, so she raised the level of their training again. The mecha operators cried. They understood what living h.e.l.l was like.

They wanted to faint and escape the training but the military doctor in charge of them was exceptional. One syringe was enough to wake them up and be energetic again. Oh my G.o.d, this demon could go to the military hospital. What is he doing here?

At night, whenever the mecha operators were about to sleep, they would curse a person called Li s.h.i.+yu. Why didn't you go to the military hospital? Why? F**k, why didn't you go there? Are you going to go there soon? Sob, Dr. Frankenstein, Major Li, Grandaddy Li can you go to the military hospital? Please?

Heaven might have heard their curses, so after a while, the military hospital pa.s.sed a summon to Li s.h.i.+yu asking him to report the results of the treatment to them personally. When Li s.h.i.+yu left the base, there was a huge uproar. It almost caused a ma.s.sive earthquake.

This was the only way the mecha operators could show their excitement. Finally, they could pretend to faint.

Did they succeed? Well, who knows?

Ling Lan was clearing some doc.u.ments in her office when someone knocked on her door. A familiar voice was heard. "Regiment commander, are you free?"

Ling Lan didn't even look up. She said directly, "Come in, Lanfeng. Even if I'm not free, I will be free for you."

Ling Lan heard the hesitation in Li Lanfeng's voice. From the way he spoke, she predicted that he was going to ask her some personal things. Li Lanfeng was a proud person. If he came to ask her for help, it meant that he couldn't solve it himself.

Her comrades were important to her so she wouldn't let them face their problems by themselves. Although Li Lanfeng had entered her team after the military academy and had only worked together for a year, the time spent in the Virtual World, the sincere and pure relations.h.i.+p they had, was enough for Ling Lan to consider Li Lanfeng as her confidant. This relations.h.i.+p was different from her relations.h.i.+p with her childhood buddies like Qi Long, but she still treasured it very much.

Li Lanfeng sat on the sofa in the living room. He lowered his head in deep thought. Ling Lan made two cups of hot tea in the pantry and placed one in front of Li Lanfeng.

This job should be done by her adjutant but Ling Lan didn't like having one. She didn't like having someone unfamiliar around her. The training in the learning s.p.a.ce made it hard for her to trust anyone staying beside her all the time.

Of course, she trusted her childhood companions and was willing to show her back to them. However, an adjutant was like an officer's a.s.sistant or butler. The future prospect for this position was not good, so Ling Lan didn't want to affect her comrades' future by having them work as her adjudant.

Her personal secret also meant that she couldn't have an adjutant. Hence, Ling Lan didn't have one. She had to do most things on her own.

Ling Lan took her teacup and sat down on the sofa on the right side of Li Lanfeng. She sipped her tea slowly and waited for him to speak.

Li Lanfeng took the teacup instinctively but didn't drink it. A few minutes of silence pa.s.sed by. Li Lanfeng sighed. He placed the teacup back on the coffee table and leaned against the sofa. He cupped his hands and rubbed his thumbs, symbolizing his confused state of mind. It was different from his normal calm expression.

"Tell me what you are thinking. You have already lost your composure, so you will not be able to make the most optimal decision. If you trust me, share your thoughts with me. I might be able to give you some of my opinions on the matter." Ling Lan put down her teacup helplessly when she saw Li Lanfeng's actions.

Li Lanfeng raised his head. He wanted to give her a grateful smile but he couldn't. He sighed. "I don't know how to explain…"

Ling Lan looked at Li Lanfeng sincerely. She waited for him to continue.

Li Lanfeng grabbed his head in frustration. Besides his grandfather, no one in his family knew that he wanted to change his destiny. None of them knew what he was going through. However, he didn't know that his younger brother, who didn't know the truth, would sacrifice so much to help him.

If he was going through some hard times, then it was still fine. But with how things were going now, he was going to reach his goal soon, so Li Lanfeng didn't need his help anymore.

If the truth was revealed, Li Lanfeng might lose his younger brother! He was a selfish person but the things his younger brother did for him over the years truly made him guilty.

"I lied to him for so many years." Li Lanfeng looked up and gave a bitter smile. "Although I didn't do it on purpose at the start, everything that happened after that put me in a difficult position. IN the end, I'm unable to explain myself…"

"You want to explain to him but you are afraid that he wouldn't understand, right? That is why you don't know what to do." Ling Lan raised her eyebrows. F**k, why does his situation sounds so familiar?

"You understand me well. Yes, I want to explain to him but I don't know how to. Everything started with me. But before I knew it, the lie had started growing exponentially…" A cigarette would be perfect for the situation now. At the start, he didn't have the intention to continue to lie for so long. However, over the years, he continued on the lie until the lie he made started to take deep root in their relations.h.i.+p. Especially in these few years, he couldn't pick up his courage and tell him the truth, shattering his whole conviction, basically telling him what you have done over the past decade was useless. I am a coward!

Ling Lan's hand trembled when she heard this. Is Li Lanfeng probing her? Maybe? The things he said, isn't it referring to her?

"Boss, don't worry. Let me check his information first." Little Four noticed Ling Lan's agitation and immediately consoled her. He didn't expect one of his Boss's comrades to be so sharp. He couldn't underestimate him.

Ling Lan calmed down and pretended to listen to Li Lanfeng carefully.

"So, do you think you should explain or not?" Ling Lan threw a question at Li Lanfeng to see what he was thinking.

"If I don't explain, the truth will still be exposed in the end. Once the other person realized it himself, the situation will turn for the worse, right?" Li Lanfeng asked with uncertainty.

Is he warning her? Ling Lan glanced at Li Lanfeng coldly as she pondered over his words.

"Will the situation be better if you explain it?" Ling Lan asked again.

"I don't know!" Li Lanfeng shook his head. He really didn't know what the results might be. "I might be scolded terribly, and he might forgive me in the end or he might treat me as a complete stranger from then on."

Does this mean that he doesn't know how to accept the truth? Ling Lan rubbed her chin thoughtfully. Does this mean that he just suspects her but can't confirm his suspicions yet? Is he just talking about himself? Is she thinking too much? However, lying from birth, not having the intention at the start but being deliberate in the end… wasn't it talking about her? This was too much of a coincidence.

Ling Lan had thought about what would happen if her secret was discovered. However, since her comrades didn't find out after so long, she forgot about this problem. Now that Li Lanfeng brought it up again, she got fl.u.s.tered. She lost her coolness in that instant. She couldn't predict if he was probing her.

Ling Lan looked up and saw Li Lanfeng staring intently at her. She felt nervous. After some time, she said, "Actually, this is a gamble. It depends on how strong your relations.h.i.+p is with the other person as well as how important you are to him."

Ling Lan was lucky that her face could remain expressionless no matter what state of mind she was in.

She started thinking carefully. If her gender was exposed, what would be the consequences? Would they leave her in a fit of anger? Would they stay back and continue working hard with her?

However, this world was biased against women. It was hard for a woman to gain recognition in this era. Maybe, her comrades would feel ashamed that she was a woman.

Ling Lan started frowning when she thought about this. Her mood turned bad. F**k, this b.a.s.t.a.r.d Li Lanfeng. Why did he remind her about this?

"Gamble?" Li Lanfeng repeated the word. He was deep in thought.

"You must be confident that you are important to the other person. You must trust that even if he is angry at you, he will forgive you. If that is the case, you can take the gamble." Ling Lan spoke her true thoughts unexpectedly. Is it possible?

Although Ling Lan trusted her bond with her comrades, she didn't dare to take a gamble.

Li Lanfeng pondered for a long time. In the end, he gave a tired smile. He had his answer. He just didn't have the confidence.

Is the relations.h.i.+p formed when they were young, strong enough to have him forgive him? He was thinking too much.

Li Lanfeng appeared confused for a moment. Soon, he regained his composure and said, "Thank you, Ling Lan."

As expected of his rabbit. You are the only one that can clear my thoughts!I did the right thing to look for you.

Li Lanfeng, was it really right of you to look for Ling Lan? Li Lanfeng didn't know the pressure he placed on Ling Lan. He was just grateful that she helped him make a decision. He should just let time settle this matter for him.

"Thank me? What did I say?" Ling Lan asked nervously. What does he mean? Did I reveal myself just now? Did he catch it?

Li Lanfeng smiled. "You didn't say anything…"

Thank you for protecting my pride.

The smile was glaring to Ling Lan. She gritted his teeth. "So."

With her cold face and cold aura, it was easy for people to feel that this was a statement instead of a question.