When they received this notification, Qiao Ting's brows knitted together. After musing over it for a moment, he turned to look at Ling Lan and said, "Regiment Commander Ling, judging from this notification, there must have been some problem with the safety of Zhang Jing-an's mecha. Could the monitoring system have been compromised? Or is it the control system? Or perhaps ..." Qiao Ting's expression turned grim and his voice dipped low. "Was there a problem with the mecha itself to begin with?"

By this time, Ling Lan had already obtained the conclusion Ling Xiao and the vice president had come to from her connection with Little Four. Suppressing the rage within her, she replied coldly, "Perhaps. Those are all possible!"

Ling Lan's words made Qiao Ting turn serious. He was just about to continue discussing the topic with Ling Lan when, right then, the people around the large screen began yelling, "General Ling Xiao, General Ling Xiao is coming ..."

Ling Lan and the others looked over and saw from the video feed that Ling Xiao and the vice president were walking over here shoulder to shoulder. There were also quite a number of officers trailing behind them. Among them, Ling Lan saw a familiar face — it was that secret service secretary He Xuyang, who had now become Ling Xiao's 23rd Division's first adviser.

This He Xuyang should have already pa.s.sed Ling Xiao's tests to become one of his confidants; otherwise, Ling Xiao would not have brought him with him to planet Qiming. Meanwhile, that Adjutant Qiao who Ling Xiao had once brought with him to the First Men's Military Academy was nowhere in sight this trip. It looked like there must have been something wrong with that Adjutant Qiao ... the only question was whether her dad had put him on ice or if he had already utterly dealt with the problem.

By this time, that group had already come to the mouth of a pa.s.sage. This pa.s.sageway was very familiar to everyone watching the video feed; it was the pa.s.sage to the backstage area they were at.

Ling Lan's mind stirred as she began guessing silently as to why her dad would be headed here. Could it be because she was here? Ling Lan felt that this was truly possible.

As soon as Ling Xiao's group entered the backstage, no one there dared to move rashly, afraid to offend General Ling Xiao in any way. Even if they had dared to make any strange moves, the guards who had stepped in ahead of Ling Xiao would definitely have intercepted them. Everyone looked at Ling Xiao with reverent gazes, eyes tracking his every step.

Ling Xiao's destination was very clear. Without any hesitation, he headed straight for the First Men's Military Academy's area. No one was surprised by this move of Ling Xiao's. It was someone from the First Men's Military Academy who had been injured; it made perfect sense for Ling Xiao to go over and provide some rea.s.surance. Moreover, General Ling Xiao was an alumni of the First Men's Military Academy — it was reasonable for him to go over and show some concern for his juniors.

The vice president smiled gently and kept pace with Ling Xiao as they made their way over to the First Men's Military Academy's side. The vice president's destination this time was the First Men's Military Academy anyway — he needed to show some care on behalf of the government.

Watching as Ling Xiao slowly approached, Qiao Ting and the rest were extremely excited. When Ling Xiao was finally before them, the five of them instantly snapped to attention and raised their hands in a sharp salute, shouting in unison, "General, good day!"

Ling Xiao returned a salute with a serious expression. When he put down his right hand, his expression instantly gentled and he said kindly, "That student just now ... though he is injured badly, he will definitely recover with the healing capacity of the Federation. Do not worry."

"Thank you, General!" responded the group in unison, hearts settling at Ling Xiao's words.

Ling Xiao's first remark was to inform them about Zhang Jing-an's condition — Qiao Ting and the rest were silently grateful for General Ling Xiao's compa.s.sion. Knowing what they were most worried about, he had instantly provided them with an answer.

General Ling Xiao's gentle gaze swept over the five youths there, pausing for a beat on Ling Lan before swiftly turning to the next youth in line. In the end, Ling Xiao's gaze landed on Qiao Ting and he said, "You. You should be Qiao Ting, right?"

"Yes, General!" Qiao Ting was ecstatic — he had not expected General Ling Xiao to know his name. Suppressing his br.i.m.m.i.n.g emotions which were about to overflow, Qiao Ting forced himself to be calm and replied.

"I saw you fight in the singles event. Not bad. Keep up the good work!" praised General Ling Xiao.

Qiao Ting immediately replied, "Yes, General!" He really did not expect General Ling Xiao to not only know his name, but to also go so far as to praise him. Qiao Ting was rather thrown off-balance by this — he desperately restrained himself, barely able to keep his emotions in check.

Ling Xiao's gaze then moved onto the Ling Lan and the others, and he asked with a smile, "Who's up for the next match?"

Mu Shaoyu raised his hand excitedly and shouted, "Reporting to the general! That would be me!"

Ling Xiao looked at Mu Shaoyu and his first adviser He Xuyang instantly s.h.i.+fted closer to whisper in his ear. After He Xuyang had stepped back into place, Ling Xiao glanced at Ling Lan standing beside Mu Shaoyu with a smile in his eyes.

'Truly, a tiger does not father hounds!' thought He Xuyang. He still remembered that Young Master Lan was only just a second-year cadet. For him to be able to partic.i.p.ate in the group mecha combat event as a second-year, Young Master Lan's mecha piloting talent must not be weaker than General Ling Xiao's by much.

General Ling Xiao smiled, nodded and said, "Mu Shaoyu, is it? You all have already lost two matches so far. If you lose, the other two after you will not be able to take the field, you know. So that you aren't blamed by them, you need to work hard."

Ling Xiao's slightly teasing words helped to ease Mu Shaoyu's nervousness considerably. He loudly replied, "General, I guarantee that I'll complete this mission!" He turned his head to look at Ling Lan and Qiao Ting, and lifted his chin to say confidently, "I'll definitely let them take the field."

Ling Xiao looked over at Ling Lan, his eyes filled with a kind and loving humour. This look almost made Ling Lan think that Ling Xiao would call her 'my child', but unexpectedly, Ling Xiao merely said, "Fight well!"

Ling Lan was the calmest among the five youths. In response to that, she replied, "Yes, General!"

Her cold face was an emotionless mask — Ling Xiao was rather discouraged by this. How could his daughter be so calm and collected? Although the others were trying their best to compose themselves, it was obvious at a glance how they really felt. Only Ling Lan had not revealed any bit of emotion whatsoever, leaving Ling Xiao floundering as to how she felt. Did his arrival not make his daughter excited at all? Ling Xiao had a bellyful of resentment at the thought.

Seeing that Ling Xiao was done speaking, the vice president followed up with his own words of concern. The First Men's Military Academy group could feel the care from both the military and the government.

At this time, the two specialist mecha safety surveyors that had been transferred here urgently arrived backstage, and they began inspecting the mecha of the two mecha operators about to take the field. Seeing General Ling Xiao and the vice president there, they immediately came over to report. Subsequently, under General Ling Xiao's instruction, they respectively inspected Mu Shaoyu's mecha as well as the mecha of the third partic.i.p.ant from the Tongli military academy.

As the backstage began to bustle with activity, the vice president was just about to suggest they leave when Ling Xiao suddenly turned his head and asked the five students of the First Men's Military Academy, "Who will be fighting after Mu Shaoyu?"

Ling Lan could not help but sweatdrop when she heard this. h.e.l.ls, she did not believe that her dad had not managed to get his hands on their partic.i.p.ant name list. However, she knew that this was probably her dad trying to find a way to speak with her, so she raised her hand and said, "Reporting, Sir, that would be me."

Receiving the answer he wanted, Ling Xiao turned to the vice president and said, "Sir Vice President, I really want to take a look at the c.o.c.kpits of the mecha of the other partic.i.p.ants. Why not take this opportunity to look at this student's mecha as well?"

The vice president's face turned stern at his words and he replied, "Suits me."

Even as Ling Xiao's and the vice president's words stunned Ling Lan, she felt a surge of warmth suffuse her heart. Ling Xiao's visit backstage was not only to see her but, more importantly, to inspect her c.o.c.kpit. Ling Lan knew that Ling Xiao was concerned and ill at ease, unwilling to leave his daughter's safety in the hands of others. He wanted to inspect her mecha personally, and in order to achieve this objective, he had racked his brains, patiently waiting for the most opportune timing.

Ling Lan pressed down the warmth in her heart and led Ling Xiao and the vice president to the mecha she was going to operate later.

For this fight, Ling Lan had not chosen an ace mecha but a special-cla.s.s mecha which was comprehensively balanced, unlike the typical close-combat mecha she favoured. Ling Lan had her own reasons for choosing this mecha. Over this period of time, she had organized the legacy information she had received from her dad in the virtual s.p.a.ce. She found that, on the battlefield, the more cards someone had up their sleeves, the easier it was for them to survive. This prompted her to reflect upon herself, wondering if she was too biased towards close combat and had neglected her long-range skills.

Putting one's full focus on one aspect would indeed allow one to reach a pinnacle much easier; besides that, many people who ambitiously tried to develop both sides often ended up moving towards mediocrity, lost among the ma.s.ses. In human history, with regards to mecha, of all the people who had managed to ascend to G.o.d-cla.s.s operator status, Ling Xiao was the only one who operated a balanced-type mecha!

Not everyone was Ling Xiao! Ling Lan too had this self-awareness. She would not be so bold as to think she could do as her dad had and become proficient at everything. She was only planning to train up her long-range combat skills a little more so that it could become one of her reliable cards in a crucial moment.

It was precisely this consideration which made Ling Lan choose this balanced mecha. There was no problem in terms of operating it — in the learning s.p.a.ce, Instructor Number Three had not simply made her pilot just one series of mecha. She had had training in all the mecha types — it was just that her talent laid in close combat, so her long-range combat paled in comparison. In Ling Lan's battle clan of ten, Ling Lan's long-range abilities could at most rank her at number five ... Li Lanfeng, Han Jijyun, and Lin Zhong-qing were all better than her, and even Li s.h.i.+yu, who did not focus much on mecha piloting, was better than her by a hair in long-range combat.

Ling Lan's long-range combat skills were only better than Qi Long, Zhao Jun, and Xie Yi, who specialized in close combat, as well as Chang Xinyuan, whose piloting talent was terrible to begin with. As for Luo Lang, it depended on which personality he had activated at the time — if the personality in control was one suited for long-range combat, then his long-range skills would also be stronger than Ling Lan's. Thus, Ling Lan's talent in long-range combat could only be considered above average, absolutely nowhere close to top-notch.

However, giving up just like that was not like Ling Lan. She decided to spend a little more time training up her long-range combat skills. No matter what, she would make it so that she could squeeze into the top three of her battle clan ...

When Ling Xiao saw this mecha, he looked at Ling Lan contemplatively. Ling Lan noticed the satisfaction and smugness in her dad's eyes, and she instantly realized something and began screaming in her heart. 'Oh Dad, get over yourself! Me choosing a balanced mecha has nothing at all to do with you!'

Did Ling Xiao really have nothing to do with it? In the minds.p.a.ce, Little Four cheekily morphed into Ling Xiao's image and asked in a stern tone.

Also inside the minds.p.a.ce, Ling Lan rolled her eyes at this and with a flick of her finger, she made Little Four turn back to his original form. Fine. So there was that little bit of connection. After all, she had inherited Ling Xiao's legacy. Ling Lan admitted this honestly.

The news that Ling Xiao would be personally inspecting Ling Lan's mecha thrilled everyone. They all gathered close — if Ling Xiao's guards had not stopped them, they would most probably have come right up to the bottom of the mecha.

Ling Xiao spent more than 10 minutes inside the c.o.c.kpit of Ling Lan's mecha. This duration greatly exceeded the time the experts used to inspect mecha. The specialists who were inspecting Mu Shaoyu's mecha were already done with it and had moved on to inspect Qiao Ting's mecha.

When Ling Xiao finally climbed out of the c.o.c.kpit, his face was somewhat pale. This instantly made the vice president anxious and he asked, "General Ling, is there a problem?" The malfunction of one mecha could be explained as an error, but one more malfunctioning mecha would be a dereliction of duty. That would definitely cause a great upheaval within the entire Federation in both the military and political world.

Ling Xiao shook his head and said, "No big problems, just some minor issues." As soon as Ling Xiao said this, the staff member in charge of this mecha found sweat beading his forehead. However, he did not dare to wipe the sweat away — he quickly rushed over to stand before General Ling Xiao, bowed his head and took the blame. "General, I did not do a good job."

"This doesn't have much to do with you." Ling Xiao's words lifted the staff member's heart from h.e.l.l up to heaven. He raised his head in pleasant surprise. Ling Xiao did not notice this. He pointed at some parts of the mecha and began describing the problems.

The staff member quickly opened his communicator and began taking notes. The issues Ling Xiao pointed out were largely effects of wear and tear, which would affect the performance of the mecha. Of course, there were also a few very hidden spots which, if not discovered in time, would have caused some insensitivity in the controls of the mecha. However, these had nothing to do with the main focus of the inspection this time as they would not threaten the life of the operator inside the c.o.c.kpit.

Hearing Ling Xiao's detailed narration on the issues down to the smallest screw, all the people at the side stared with envy-jealousy-hate at the owner of this mecha — Ling Lan, who was currently standing behind Ling Xiao with a composed expression. Everyone was thinking: why couldn't it have been their mecha that was chosen for inspection by the general? Who would have guessed that General Ling Xiao's inspection would be so thorough, not even letting a single minor issue go?

On the surface, Ling Lan was as calm as ever but in truth, when she heard Ling Xiao listing out the issues of her mecha one by one, her heart throbbed once more —— was this what was meant by comparing fatherly love to a mountain?

Ling Lan was well aware that Ling Xiao had not simply conducted a surface inspection, but he had also used his spiritual power to envelop the entire mecha, which was how he had managed to ferret out all these little problems. This method was a huge drain on Ling Xiao's spiritual power — no wonder his face had been that pale when he had exited the mecha c.o.c.kpit. At the same time, Ling Lan was silently shocked at the frightening realm her father's control over his spiritual power had reached. Even she had not noticed him using his spiritual power.

Ling Xiao's abundant berth of fatherly love made Ling Lan's self-erected barrier abruptly collapse. If they had not been in a public place, Ling Lan believed that she would have easily called out 'daddy' at this moment.

Unfortunately ... Ling Lan's gaze flickered. She finally reined in the s.h.i.+fting warmth in her heart, once again reverting back to the usual cold and seemingly emotionless Ling Lan.

If Ling Xiao had known right then that he had missed the chance to be called 'daddy' by Ling Lan because this was the wrong place and time, he would certainly be pounding his chest in frustration. However, it was also fortunate that he did not know so it did not affect his mood. With a serious demeanour, he instructed the backstage staff to fix each and every one of those problems.

Ling Xiao's serious att.i.tude spurred everyone into nervous action. The problems that originally would have taken one to two hours to fix were completely resolved within half an hour. After Ling Xiao once again entered the c.o.c.kpit for a rea.s.sessment, when he came out, he nodded at the staff to show that everything was fine now.

Having obtained General Ling Xiao's approval, all of the staff members could not help but break out into celebratory applause. This shook Ling Xiao out of work mode and a smile appeared on his lips. Now that the mecha was free of possible issues, Ling Xiao let out a sigh of relief.

However, this joyous atmosphere was soon broken by the news that the specialist inspecting one of the mecha of the Tongli Military Academy had found some problems with it. When Ling Xiao and the vice president heard the news, their expressions changed. Sharing a quick glance, they walked over to that mecha.

After listening to the specialist's report, Ling Xiao boarded the mecha to recheck it, and when he came out, he nodded at the vice president to show that the specialist's inspection results were not wrong. The vice president's countenance darkened instantly. He knew that this was most likely a case of collusion between officials and businessmen, a major incident of corruption, bribery, and dereliction of duty.

"General Ling Xiao ... this matter, can you leave it to us government officials to resolve?" The vice president waited till General Ling Xiao alighted from the mecha before pleading softly.

At this moment, there was no sign of Ling Xiao's previous warmth and gentle manner. He glanced at the vice president, his gaze so sharp that sweat began to run from the vice president's forehead. The vice president then heard Ling Xiao reply coldly, "I will need to report this matter to the First Marshal. I beg your pardon, Vice President." Just thinking about how many of his comrades, who were fighting with their lives on the line on the battlefield, could have lost their lives due to this, Ling Xiao's rage burned. He would not let this rest.

The vice president knew that his request had been a little too much, so he could only nod bitterly and say, "As you should, as you should. I did not think it through. I beg your forgiveness, General Ling Xiao."

Only then did Ling Xiao's tense expression ease and he said sincerely, "Vice President, we can only do things by the book. What happens next is not something we can meddle with."

The vice president smiled wryly at those words. Compared to Ling Xiao, he was much more worried. If this matter was not handled properly, the government this round may very well have to resign collectively ... he hoped that the skies would not be torn asunder by this!

After settling the concern in his heart, Ling Xiao led his men away from the backstage. Meanwhile, the vice president returned to his accommodations with a mind full of worries. At this time, how could he still have the heart to continue watching the group mecha fights? He needed to convey this news at soonest notice to the president.

As for Ling Xiao, he returned to the rostrum area and nodded lightly to the worried Lan Luofeng. Only then did Lan Luofeng relax — if Ling Xiao said that everything was fine, then everything was sure to be fine. With regards to mecha, Lan Luofeng had the utmost trust in Ling Xiao.

In the meantime, Ling Xiao's first adviser He Xuyang was already on the road back to their accommodations. He had been sent by Ling Xiao to report what had happened here to the first marshal. As for what would follow, it was just as Ling Xiao had said — those were not things he could control. Of course, if someone was found to have engaged in malpractices for selfish ends, he, Ling Xiao, would not mind intervening — the mecha defence systems which could impact the survivability of a warrior absolutely could not be allowed to be treated lightly by anyone.

Very soon, the group mecha combat event resumed, and Mu Shaoyu operated his mecha onto the field. His opponent from the Tongli Military Academy was significantly weaker than him, so it only took a few moves before the opponent could hardly fight back under Mu Shaoyu's attacks. After resisting for ten more moves or so, the opponent felt that he could not go on and so immediately found time to make the motion for surrender. The referee immediately waved his red flag and ended the match.

The Tongli team backstage did not show any signs of disappointment at this loss for Tongli. Instead, they seemed even more eager and energetic in their preparations for the fourth match. This also confirmed that the opponents were indeed hedging their victory on the fourth match. They were putting their hopes on defeating Ling Lan who had not partic.i.p.ated in the single mecha combat event, but had unexpectedly shown up to partic.i.p.ate in the group event.

Zhao Jun was the only one backstage who knew Ling Lan's true strength — his boss was a bona fide ace operator! Even if he was operating a special-cla.s.s mecha, a special-cla.s.s operator would still be no match at all for him.

By this time, Ling Lan had already boarded her mecha and was conducting her pre-match checks. She found that after Ling Xiao's repairs and adjustments, her mecha's functions had become one to two points more responsive — it could be said that its responsiveness had doubled, skirting around the edges of the limits of special-cla.s.s mecha, just a hair's breadth away from an ace mecha. Ling Lan was filled with silent admiration — her dad's mastery over mecha had already reached an amazing pinnacle. Only with that was he able to instantly come up with the best modifications for this mecha on the spot.

Yes, modification. Although Ling Xiao seemed to have only been replacing the worn parts of the mecha without touching on the roots of the mecha itself, it was precisely these una.s.suming small parts which had brought earth-shaking changes to Ling Lan's mecha. It was not at all overboard to say that this was a modification.

Ling Lan's mind stirred and she immediately asked Little Four to record down the process of Ling Xiao adjusting the mecha as well as all the parts he had highlighted for fixing. She then sent the information to Chang Xinyuan — she believed that this might be a chance for Chang Xinyuan to evolve.

Finally, Ling Lan's match began. Lan Luofeng, who had been awaiting this moment for so long, could not help but grip the sleeves of Ling Xiao's clothes tightly. Her grip was so forceful that Ling Xiao was almost pulled into her arms.

Ling Xiao clasped Lan Luofeng's hand which was holding onto his sleeve and pressed down lightly. Lan Luofeng raised her head, her eyes filled with worry. Her daughter was actually going to operate a mecha to fight with another mecha operator ...

Ling Xiao consoled her in a low voice, "Luofeng, it'll be fine. Believe in her." Under Ling Xiao's comforting words, Lan Luofeng gradually relaxed and looked towards the combat field. One of the mecha operators operating a special-cla.s.s mecha there was her daughter Ling Lan ... she should probably be the first ever female mecha operator to partic.i.p.ate in the mecha combat tournament. Lan Luofeng felt both proud and sorrowful. If at all possible, she did not want to see this scene.

********

The mecha the Tongli operator was piloting was a close-combat mecha, while Ling Lan was piloting a balanced mecha. The spectators could not help but begin guessing if this would be a mixed battle of long range and close range, or if it would just be a direct all-out close combat match.

In fact, Ling Lan really wanted to push for close combat immediately and KO the opponent cleanly. However, she still pressed down this notion of hers, deciding to first try long-range attacks.

When the referee waved the green flag, before the opponent could react, Ling Lan had already operated her mecha to retreat several hundred metres. This extreme speed made everyone cry out in shock — they all turned to look at the referee's flag, trying to determine if this action of Ling Lan's was a foul.

This was because there had been contestants before who had moved before the referee had waved his green flag and declared the start of the battle. In the end, those contestants had been judged to have committed a foul and were deducted a whole half of their points. Not only that, the match had been restarted and those contestants were warned that if they made the same foul again, they would be judged to have lost instantly.

The referee panel monitoring the match very quickly gave their verdict — all of the referees on the panel judged that Ling Lan's operation was legal and within the rules. When the referee on the field received the referee panel's conclusion, he immediately waved his green flag around to indicate that everything was fine with the match — Ling Lan's operation had not broken any rules.

The audience applauded enthusiastically at this outcome. With just this move alone, Ling Lan had shown that her control skills were not mediocre. As expected, someone from the First Men's Military Academy could not be much worse than the other representatives from the school even if he had not partic.i.p.ated in the solo event. Ling Lan's remarkable operation skill standards immediately dispelled the doubts the people had against her. She was able to partic.i.p.ate in the group mecha fights due to her own strength and not because of anything else.i.e. isolate him and only give him menial tasksHeavy, strong, and reliable.i.e. things would not escalate beyond their control.