Chapter 296: The Price of Fate!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

"In other words, if I want to lead my companions further, I need to make sure to allocate my members' roles within the battle clan in the most logical and perfect way?" Ling Lan scrunched up her brow. It looked like she had taken things too much for granted ...

At this time, Ling Lan finally figured out some things she had always found puzzling before — why Lin Zhong-qing and Han Jijyun had chosen to apply for other specializations in the military academy even though their mecha control standards were not much lower than Xie Yi's, Luo Lang's, or the others. In Mecha World, they were all already at the level of advanced mecha warrior. It turned out that they were already familiar with the composition of a battle clan, and so had made their choice early on for the sake of the future of their battle clan. In contrast, as the boss, she had been rather muddled and clueless till now — though she had known subconsciously that they had done it for the team, she had not understood their motives as deeply as she did now.

"This is absolutely necessary. For example, that senior who made this weapon for you would be a great candidate. You should know that for a person to create such an outstanding weapon, he must have reached the pinnacle in terms of his mastery of materials. He is most definitely a prodigy in engineering and modification. He'll be able to help you greatly by increasing your battle clan's strength by onefold or even more," replied Ling Xiao, "If he hasn't joined any other battle clan yet, I recommend you act quickly. This kind of prodigy is a truly rare and lucky find."

"Hn, I'll have to think well on this." Regarding the composition of their battle clan, Ling Lan still wanted to check in with Qi Long and the others first. After all, even if she wanted to expand the team and take in new people, Ling Lan still hoped to receive their agreement.

Right then, Ling Lan could not help but think of that dux of the military medical research specialization, Li s.h.i.+yu. At first, she had only felt that the other's medical skills were amazing, which had moved her to establish a good relations.h.i.+p with him in hopes that if her team members were injured in future, they would have a trustworthy doctor to rely on. Now, from the looks of it, she needed to change her strategy and redraw her plans.

Ling Lan also recalled that the students studying to become military doctors typically would not join any battle clans, strictly holding onto a neutral stance. She reckoned that this dux, Li s.h.i.+yu, would also be the same. Ling Lan decided that no matter what, she must manipulate ... er, no, force ... wait, that's not right either ... s.n.a.t.c.h him for her clan! Ling Lan silently clenched her fists tightly. She could not let this type of prodigy slip away just like that from her hands.

Li s.h.i.+yu, who had initially been not really all that important in Ling Lan's mind, had all of a sudden become Ling Lan's top priority target. Right then, Li s.h.i.+yu, who was still immersed in medical research in the Military Medical Research Centre, did not know that his future had already been decided for him by Ling Lan without him being the wiser! Let us take a moment of silence to mourn for him!

"If you really want to establish a battle clan, you indeed need to think well on this." When Ling Xiao had mentioned the first half of his sentence, he could already feel the endless cold air seeping out from within Ling Lan's mecha, and he smiled wryly.

It was probably impossible for his daughter to cast aside those few little companions who had grown up alongside her. At this moment, Ling Xiao did not know whether to be proud or sad 1 — his daughter, who should have been a bundle of adorableness to be cosseted in the palms of his hands, had now become so cold, stern, and domineering, her boss aura even more formidable and fearsome than his had been while he had been thriving in the military academy back in his time ...

Say, had his wife really given birth to a daughter? Ling Xiao was suddenly uncertain. He had the impulse to immediately contact his wife to confirm — back then, had she really given birth to a girl? Could it be that his wife had wanted a girl so much that she had forcefully decided to treat their son as a daughter?

This notion was quickly dispelled by Ling Xiao because it was an absolutely impossible scenario. He was really too stupid to even consider it, certain to be chased out of the bedroom by his wife for half a year if he asked her ...

"Of course, there are two ways the members of a battle clan can join. One way is for them to be permanent members. These people must have gone through some testing and have earned your trust. And then there are some talents who may not be so reliable, who you can choose to sign on into your clan temporarily. For example, you could take in some battle clan members temporarily, just for these few years at the academy, and once you all graduate, the contract automatically ends."

Ling Xiao shoved aside all those messy thoughts in his mind, continuing on with the previous topic and listing the rest of the key information about battle clans, "Aside from a few necessary permanent members, a typical battle clan is primarily made up of contracted members, because no one can guarantee that in future, there won't be better team members who come along. One more thing — permanent team members who are not united in spirit, who do not trust each other unconditionally, may very well choose differently when the time comes to choose their army division in the future. This would not create much difficulty for those team members themselves, but for the battle clan leader, the departure of a permanent member could be devastating. This would indicate that this team leader does not possess great leaders.h.i.+p abilities and may also have problems with his judgement of character. In the army divisions, this would significantly impact that leader's future progress. Of course, this point won't influence you much. As long as you think they're alright, just take in whoever you want. You don't have to worry."

Ling Lan would definitely be in Ling Xiao's army division in the future. As long as she did not commit any major fault, ascending the ranks step by step would certainly be no issue. Besides, Ling Xiao and Lan Luofeng were already in tacit agreement — they would gradually weaken the presence of the male Ling Lan, not allowing her to stand out too much in the division. Therefore, even if her battle clan really split apart in future, there would not be much impact on Ling Lan's future.

"A battle clan usually only stabilises properly after the clan has entered an army division. That's why the clan leader who organised the clan would mostly choose to have temporary contracts with the members, waiting to properly establish the battle clan after he has chosen and entered an army division." Ling Xiao went through all the important parts of building a battle clan.

Ling Lan nodded pensively, and then Ling Xiao asked, "Right, are the specializations of all those companions of yours in Mecha Piloting?"

"Hm, Lin Zhong-qing chose Logistics, Han Jijyun chose Stars.h.i.+p Command, while Qi Long, Luo Lang and Xie Yi chose the same as me, Mecha Piloting." Ling Lan responded to Ling Xiao's question by listing out all the specializations of her companions.

Ling Xiao's eyes sparkled at this response. Inside, he was happy for his daughter's sake — these little fellows had truly been aiming for the perfect establishment of a battle clan. "Are Qi Long, Luo Lang and Xie Yi particularly strong in terms of combat ability? And are their awakened innate talents more suited to mecha piloting?"

"Yes, compared to Lin Zhong-qing and Han Jijyun, it is indeed so," Ling Lan nodded and said.

Pleased, Ling Xiao nodded and said, "From the looks of it, your battle clan is still lacking a strategic adviser, a doctor, and an engineer-mechanic. High level engineer-mechanics are generally in high demand. If you can't find a particularly exceptional one, I recommend you look for a skilled mecha repairman. That would be more useful than an average engineer-mechanic. The extra slots you have on your team can be filled with several other strong mecha operators."

"There's no need to look for a strategic adviser. That's Han Jijyun's secondary specialization. He was already exceptionally gifted in that area, only choosing Stars.h.i.+p Command for the future of the battle clan," Ling Lan conveyed the situation with Han Jijyun to Ling Xiao.

Ling Xiao found himself speechless. He really had no words to describe how lucky Ling Lan was. Actually having such an exceptional prodigy among the companions she grew up with, able to take on two roles ... this way, the battle clan would have one less support member to provide for, and the pressure would be much less. It could be said that in comparison to other similar 12-man battle clans, Ling Lan's battle clan would definitely be much stronger because of this 2 .

"Ling Lan, you need to cherish these companions well. They're really very good," said Ling Xiao seriously. Since the members were giving their all to contribute to the formation of the battle clan, as the clan leader, Ling Lan needed to live up to their contributions.

Ling Lan's lips quirked up at these words, and she nodded solemnly and said, "Don't worry, father, they are the most important friends of my life. I will definitely treasure them."

That said, Ling Lan's gaze narrowed in contemplation, silently considering a candidate for the engineer-mechanic of her team. No matter what, getting to know [No Mecha Unrepaired] in Mecha World was indeed a stroke of luck, plus the other was also from the First Men's Military Academy — he was truly the most suitable candidate. At first, she had only thought to establish a good connection with the other, but now, this idea of taking him in was indeed a good one. It would resolve the problem of finding an extremely important support member for her battle clan.

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Right then, [No Mecha Unrepaired], who was in the Suncreed City Library engrossed in researching all sorts of blueprints and reference materials, felt a sudden chill go through his body. He lifted his head warily, silently observing the other fellow aficionados in the library who were similarly bent over their own blueprints and diagrams in focused study. After all, he had offended the Thunder King before; who knew whether the other would send people to trouble him here in Suncreed City ...

He looked left and he looked right, however, no matter how he looked, he could see nothing strange ... could it be that he was too tired lately, thus messing up his sense of perception? [No Mecha Unrepaired] decided to finish up with the diagram he was studying and then take a good rest so that he could avoid this sort of paranoia messing with his productivity ...

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At this thought, Ling Lan involuntarily turned her head to glance at the two people watching the fight. Could these two people also be serendipitous acquaintances for her? Ling Lan's mind stirred, and she turned to ask Ling Xiao, "Father, what are the IDs of those two mecha?"

"Why do you ask for their IDs? Has something happened?" Ling Xiao frowned. He had allowed those two to spectate because he wanted to show them a kindness, but he did not want them to distract his daughter from learning.

"No, I'm just wondering whether they could be a fated connection for me. They could turn out to be a member of my battle clan in future," said Ling Lan coolly, "Fated meetings are not so easy to come by; perhaps they should pay some price for this ..."

Er ... is this his daughter? Isn't this too sly and cunning? Ling Xiao could not help but glance at those two innocent mecha who were still clueless about what was happening. In his heart, however, he firmly gave his daughter 32 thumbs ups 3 : D*mn, as expected of a daughter of mine, definitely never taking a loss if she can help it.

"The black mecha is called [Forge the Future] 4 , while the advanced mecha is called [Self-Defined Destiny] 5 ," Ling Xiao revealed their IDs to his daughter without any hesitation, using action to show his support for his daughter's decision.

Seeing the two mecha on the stage stop fighting to turn and look at them one after the other, Li Lanfeng and Zhao Jun felt their hearts skip a beat. Was the other side about to kick them out now? In his mecha's c.o.c.kpit, Zhao Jun even began to pray with his palms held together: Oh G.o.d, please no!

In the midst of Li Lanfeng's and Zhao Jun's worrying, the two mecha on the stage turned back in silent unison, and then the intermediate mecha suddenly leapt backwards, pulling away once more from the imperial mecha to put some distance between them. It looked like a new fight was about to begin.

"That scared me! I thought we were really about to get kicked out of here!" Only then did Zhao Jun lower his palms with the sense of relief of a survivor, exclaiming to Li Lanfeng with some lingering fear.

"For some reason, I still feel somewhat uneasy." Li Lanfeng did not know why, but a strong sense of danger was spreading within his heart.