Chapter 490: Gemini?

Translator:

Henyee Translations

Editor:

Henyee Translations

It was 11 o’clock on planet Qiming. On this unknown planet, although it was daytime, the real situation was very bad. One second it was sunny as summer’s day and the next, it was thunderstorms and hurricanes. The dark weather conditions and pouring rain made visibility on the monitors of the mecha drop quickly. It was pretty much the same as that night when they could not even see their own two hands.

Or perhaps, the weather was too severe. In the originally busy airs.p.a.ce above Area P, one could not even one mecha flying about.

Boom! Boom! Boom!… Among the sound of the pouring rain hitting the trees and the ground, there seemed to be some m.u.f.fled sounds of engines mixed in. Perhaps the pouring rain was cutting off the noise, or perhaps these engines were on low gear. It was as though the engine sounds were there one second and gone the other, making it difficult to tell whether they were as actually engine sounds or not…

A few seconds later, a team of mecha appeared which continuously moved above Area P at a constant speed. The route they traveled was very clever, largely evading the area of the headquarters and pa.s.sing by uninhabited areas.

Staring at the screen of his mecha, Xie Yi could not see anything but the fog and rain, not even the teammates in front of him. Although he knew they were in front, he still could not see any trace of them. The only thing that gave him the feeling of their presence was the flas.h.i.+ng green signal lights on the radar which represented his teammates, proving that he was not alone in this thunderstorm…

The silent environment, coupled with the sense of loneliness brought by the inability to see his teammates, made Xie Yi, who always enjoyed being busy, feel a little annoyed. Finally, after a few minutes, he could not handle such a dull atmosphere and whispered, “Man, this f**king weather is really f**king annoying!”

“Although the outside environment is indeed a bit bad, in the mecha, other than the impact on our visibility, there aren’t any big problems.” A gentle voice rang in the team’s communication channel; it was the always good-tempered Li Lanfeng.

Xie Yi heard this and his face instantly became red. It turned out that he had just forgotten to temporarily turn off his microphone, and his impatient voice was heard by the entire team… He had been trying to maintain the image of a sunny boy, but it was completely ruined! Xie Yi was very annoyed.

“Yeah, and because of this weather, the mecha flying above Area P have obviously become much less than before. This helps us pa.s.s without too much interference. I think this is good luck for us. This rain is really good.” Luo Lang’s soft voice rang in the team channel. “Xie Yi, be more patient. You’re not like this normally,” Luo Lang said with a hint of incomprehension in his tone. Perhaps to Luo Lang, the image of Xie Yi’s character as a sunny and reliable individual was deeply embedded. Comparing that image to the current Xie Yi, who was being impatient, Luo Lang could not accept the change in such a short amount of time.

“Huh? I just like it to be a bit lively. The silence was killing me, making me feel very uncomfortable and a bit irritated. I am really sorry everyone,” Xie Yi quickly explained and apologized. He had to restore his image, and he could not let Luo Lang and the others be disappointed.

“It indeed gave me an illusionary feeling when no was speaking. It was as though I was the last person left in the world,” Qi Long inserted loudly.

“It’s so silent that it’s suffocating,” Xie Yi said, laughing weakly.

Right then, Ling Lan, who was at the front, heard all this and had a thought: was it possible that Xie Yi, who was always suns.h.i.+ne and rainbows, had a story?

Perhaps Luo Lang felt that Xie Yi was sensitive to the silence and thus spoke out without any topics in mind, “Boss, is it alright if we just leave the base camp like this?” Alright, in reality, he was also feeling somewhat uneasy.

“It’s alright. There are the other mecha teams who worked together and formed two teams of special-cla.s.s mecha battle teams. In addition, there’s also the logistics team formed by Wu Jiong, Li Yingjie, Ye Xu and Lin Zhong-qing. Furthermore, there’s also Jijyun defending the base camp and forming plans and strategies. As long as our opponents are not ace level operators, this setup is enough to handle them,” Ling Lan responded.

“Jijyun’s luck sucks so bad!” Ling Lan’s words made Qi Long sigh.

There was a hint of a smile in Li Lanfeng’s expression, a sense of self-satisfaction flas.h.i.+ng across his eyes. This time, Li Lanfeng had actually used some little tricks. Using his talents, he had forcefully influenced Han Jijyun’s speculations. This was how he had won over him and made him stay at headquarters.

He wasn’t sure if Han Jijyun had realized the truth by now; however, no matter how angry he was, or if he called Li Lanfeng despicable, Li Lanfeng would still have done the same. He didn’t want to miss a chance to move out with Rabbit. This was Li Lanfeng’s obsession. He had almost lost all possible opportunities to be together in this lifetime when he missed out the last time, so this time he didn’t want to miss out.

As the strategists of the Lingtian clan, either Li Lanfeng or Han Jijyun needed to stay back to defend the headquarters. Since Li Lanfeng didn’t want to stay, then that only left Han Jijyun.

This time, there were only six members working together with Ling Lan: Li Lanfeng, Zhao Jun, Qi Long, Luo Lang, Xie Yi, and Li s.h.i.+yu.

Han Jijyun was tricked by Li Lanfeng into defending the base camp, while Chang Xinyuan needed to lead the modification team to modify the different types of weapons at headquarters. They were so busy that even if Chang Xinyuan had wanted to follow Ling Lan and the others, he wouldn’t have been able to. As for Lin Zhong-qing, he was responsible for the logistics and resources for the entire team and was also not able to follow Ling Lan. This made them feel regretful, as they knew that it would be much more exciting and stimulating going out with their boss rather than defending the base camp.

When they had almost flown past Area P to reach Area S, Luo Lang asked confusedly, “Boss, isn’t our target Area P this time?”

“No!” Ling Lan responded decisively.

“Then which territory?” Luo Lang asked again.

“We’re heading to Area S first!” Ling Lan answered for all her teammates.

“Isn’t Qiao Ting responsible for Area S?” Ling Lan’s words made Li Lanfeng become suddenly confused. He remembered that the plan he and the other advisers had thought up was that Qiao Ting would be fully responsible for Area S. Was it because Rabbit feared that Qiao Ting didn’t have enough manpower? That was why they had come to help him?

However, if a battle broke out which even the 24-man special-cla.s.s mecha team led by Qiao Ting couldn’t resolve, then the seven of them coming to help would not make a difference. Even though Rabbit and Qiao Ting were both ace operators, Ling Lan was operating a special-cla.s.s mecha as she was hiding her true abilities. Additionally, their team was composed of both special-cla.s.s operators and advanced operators, an odd bunch with varying capabilities. Compared to Qiao Ting’s team, they were too inferior.

“Qiao Ting is still responsible for Area S. I just want to pa.s.s by Area S,” Ling Lan explained.

“Pa.s.s by?” Luo Lang showed a confused expression, while everyone else began to enter deep thought. Other than the normal Luo Lang, who was a bit simple-minded, the others were not simpletons; they all had their own ideas.

“Is it Area Q? Or M?” The map of the battle royale appeared in Li Lanfeng’s mind. He recalled the other military academies that he told Ling Lan to keep in mind. Suddenly, Area Q, where the Second Men’s Military Academy was situated, appeared in his mind. Li Lanfeng immediately laughed and said, “Are we going to Area Q for the Second Men’s Military Academy?”

Li Lanfeng words made Ling Lan’s lip curl slightly—she was very pleased. She found that Li Lanfeng was well aware of her thoughts, able to guess it correctly 8 or 9 out of 10 times. It seemed that Li Lanfeng was sincere in forming the close relations.h.i.+p they had during their younger years, or else he wouldn’t know her this well.

She felt pity towards him when she thought of the fact that due to his strong spiritual power, his body was as weak as it could possibly be. The results of the recovery method were not as good as when it was during Ling Lan’s childhood, as Li Lanfeng’s body had grown up in all aspects. If he wanted to recover to the best physical condition, he might need five to six years, or even ten. Ling Lan had only just found out about this problem. If Li Lanfeng’s goal had not been to become a strong mecha operator, a slow recovery wouldn’t be a problem, but it just so happened that Li Lanfeng’s goal was very clear and that was to become a mecha operator. This made the ten year recovery period seem way too long.

The best time for a mecha operator to advance was exactly around 20-30 years of age. If Li Lanfeng could only reach the peak of his physical condition when he became 30 years old, then he would have actually missed the best time for him to advance. This would affect the future in ways that would be possibly huge…

“Looks like I need to use some time and effort to resolve the issue of his physical condition before Li Lanfeng reports to the army!” Ling Lan thought to herself.

At this moment, Ling Lan had really put Li Lanfeng’s dilemma into her heart. Li Lanfeng’s whole-hearted, sincere service and outstanding performance in the past year or so was finally rewarded. This made him the first person to be included in Ling Lan’s thoughts other than Qi Long and those others who had grown up with Ling Lan. It was something to be happy about.

Zhao Jun heard Li Lanfeng’s cry of triumph, frowned and said, “Didn’t we say that we were letting the First Co-ed Military Academy handle the Second Men’s Military Academy?” When Ling Lan and Lin Xiao had agreed to the alliance, Zhao Jun, who had been present at the scene, heard everything clearly. If Boss Lan suddenly went back on his word, wouldn’t that make the First Co-ed Military Academy unhappy? Wouldn’t that destroy the alliance between the two?

Ling Lan heard this and her lip curled once again. “When I said that I agreed, I meant I agreed to the alliance. I didn’t say I would give them the Second Men’s Military Academy,” Ling Lan said plainly.

How could Ling Lan let the Second Men’s Military Academy go? Those who dared to lay a finger on her, whether they were younger brothers or sisters, would all have to pay dearly. It was the same with what happened at Tianji’s headquarters, and this time the Second Men’s Military Academy was going to be the same as well. When the mecha tournament started, Ling Lan had already made up her mind that she would not let the Second Men’s Military Academy get even one point in the battle royale. Yes, she had made up her mind very early on. She was planning on eliminating the Second Men’s Military Academy from the battle royale, and this was also one of the reasons why she went from the far north to the south that was thousands of miles away and not for the actual score or strategy.

Ling Lan was this kind of person!

Ling Lan’s words made everyone remember the image of the discussion from before. Indeed, just as Ling Lan had said, she didn’t promise the First Co-ed Military Academy anything. Saying “agreed” could have been understood as she promised or it could be understood that she only agreed to the alliance.

As expected, Boss was black-bellied! Qi Long and the others felt that they needed to have their guards up. They decided that in future when they listened to Boss, they had to be wary in case Boss sold them out while they counted the money she earned.

Upon hearing that they were going to attack the Second Men’s Military Academy, Zhao Jun suddenly became excited. If they could really bring down the headquarters of the Second Men’s Military Academy, then that would be a feat that could shake and encourage their members. He didn’t forget that they had been pressured into second place for the past 7 tournaments by the Second Men’s Military Academy. This kind of humiliation had already been deeply rooted into the bones of all the cadets at the First Men’s Military Academy.

However, after his excitement faded and he calmed down, Zhao Jun hung his face down. There would be at least 5 to 6 mecha teams defending the Second Academy’s base camp with the ace operator Jiang Shaoyu as their leader. Could they really take it down with just the seven of them?

He laughed weakly and said, “Boss, just the seven of us are going to attack the Second Men’s Military Academy? Isn’t… isn’t this too difficult?”

Ling frowned at that and said, “Actually, I was always annoyed about one thing, which is: why are everyone’s sights directed towards mecha battles?” Ling Lan touched the small item in her pocket once again. She indeed wanted to try out whether her idea would work or not.

“You’re saying, we go in without mechas? That’s… that’s too dangerous.” Knowing Ling Lan, Li Lanfeng instantly understood what Ling Lan was planning, and he was vehemently opposed to it.

Why did the battle royale become a mecha battle? Well, that was because, in mecha battles, there were mecha to protect people, which made it harder for operators to be harmed or to die. However, as soon as they left their mechas behind and used their physical bodies to go in and fight, not only would they not be able to go against any type of artillery or weapons, without the protection of the mechas, even the environment of the planet would make it hard to move forward.

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch. If it wasn’t perfectly safe, I wouldn’t do it,” Ling Lan quickly comforted Li Lanfeng after sensing his care and worry.

As expected, it wasn’t a good thing when someone knew too much. Just one little hint and Li Lanfeng was able to find out! Ling Lan was pleased, but also felt annoyed. She was proficient in satirizing others, not comforting them…

Ling Lan words only made Li Lanfeng sigh internally. He knew that once Rabbit had decided on something, he would not change his mind, and furthermore, there was the fact that he was an expert in the field of physical skills. The influence of the environment on these experts was very minimal. Even if they went against special-cla.s.s operators where high-level field experts couldn’t win, they would still be able to escape without any issue. In reality, even if he opposed the idea, he would not have any strong reason to go against Ling Lan’s decision.

The seven of them arrived at a corner in Area P which was close to Area S. Ling suddenly stopped her mecha and said, “Find a place to hide immediately. Deactivate your mecha. If I don’t move, no one else is allowed to move.”

With that said, she was the first to move her mecha down to the ground and found a tall towering tree surrounded by lush foliage to hide by. Qi Long and the others reacted very quickly; all of them quickly found places that suited them and at the same time, they turned off the engine of the mechas, and silently hid.

Ten minutes later, a mecha team could be seen moving in from the southeast.

This surprised Qi Long and the others who were hiding on the side, even Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng. They were all using special-cla.s.s mecha, yet how was it that Ling Lan discovered this mecha team and they didn’t? Was it because Ling Lan’s special-cla.s.s mecha was different from theirs? Or maybe Ling Lan had other secrets?

All these questions flashed through Li Lanfeng and Zhao Jun’s minds. They quickly focused on using their physical skills to decrease their body temperature to the lowest possible degree that they could endure, and their heart rate also began to drop likewise. A mecha with its engines off didn’t have any isolation barriers or protective equipment. The body temperature and the energy created from the blood flow of mecha operators would easily be located by a mecha’s heat sensor. In order to avoid being exposed, lowering one’s body temperature and heart rate was what each mecha operator needed to be capable of.

It was a good thing that the physical skills of this group weren’t too bad. They pretty much all controlled their body temperature and blood flow speed. Of course, it was possible that these mecha didn’t have heat sensors, or perhaps they had only turned on their radars. The radar of mecha was very sensitive to mecha engines and as luck would have it, it was not effective in detecting human bodies… In short, this team of mecha didn’t discover them. They hovered around the airs.p.a.ce above them, then flew away.

Ling Lan’s group didn’t move and remained as they were, not moving a muscle. After around ten minutes pa.s.sed, the mecha team which had left earlier returned. This time, they went around a few times, and then they slowly flew in the direction where they had come from.

Ling Lan’s patience was very good. She merely waited patiently and 10 minutes had pa.s.sed. Then 20 minutes. Then 30 minutes. The others who were waiting almost lost their patience. If they didn’t see that Ling Lan was still hiding in the same corner without moving an inch, Qi Long and the others would have thought Ling Lan had already left.

Another 10 minutes had pa.s.sed. Xie Yi, who was greatly opposed to this silent and lonely atmosphere, wanted to hit the ON b.u.t.ton for his mecha’s engine. Right then, Ling’s cold words suddenly rang out in his mind, “If I don’t move, no one else is allowed to move!”

Cold sweat suddenly began to drip down from his forehead and he forcefully withdrew his finger. The feeling of frustration present in him became replaced by calm once again.

“Looks like Boss has already found out.” Returning to his normal self, Xie Yi still didn’t understand something. He immediately laughed weakly. “Maybe I should find Boss Lan and have a discussion about it, and hope that he has a way to solve my issue.” Despite having spent all this time pretending to be sunny and happy, he still couldn’t fool himself in the end.

Xie Yi was once again envious of Luo Lang. There were so many different personalities inside Luo Lang, yet he was still able to keep the original persona so clean and uncontaminated. For Xie Yi, this was considered a miracle. As for himself, he was affected despite only having one extra personality and as time pa.s.sed, this issue was becoming increasingly severe.

Back in the days when he enjoyed following Luo Lang around, seeing him smiling happily and living recklessly, while still being happy no matter if he was humiliated or insulted, had made Xie Yi feel that his problem was not serious at all. He felt that he could overcome the other side of himself that was affecting him. He felt that there was still much hope for him in the future…

Yes, he liked the simple Luo Lang. He desired to become like Luo Lang, to be unaffected and to be himself. It could even be said that Luo Lang was the reason that he had continued to endure until now.

“I won’t give in!” Luo Lang’s reckless smile once again appeared in Xie Yi’s mind. Xie Yi clenched his fists firmly. If Luo Lang could do it, then he could do it as well.

In Xie Yi’s mind, he could lose to anyone other than Luo Lang. If he couldn’t even beat the soft and delicate Luo Lang, then how would he be able to have the dignity to stay in Boss Lan’s battle team?

Everyone had their own bottom line and Luo Lang was the bottom line which Xie Yi would not bow down to…

Perhaps it was because of Ling Lan’s spiritual charge or because Xie Yi’s will to fight had once again begun to burn inside him, but the severely depressing emotions affecting Xie Yi were fading. Xie Yi recovered his initial endurance…

10 minutes pa.s.sed by quickly once again. Right then, the pouring rain had been slowing down and after 2 to 3 minutes, the sky was no longer filled with rain, but terrifying hail instead.

The temperature instantly fell from the heat of a hot summer to the chill of the coldest of winters. Since they didn’t turn on the engines of the mechas, the equipment for maintaining a constant temperature could not be turned on either. The temperature inside their mecha dropped at an alarming rate, instantly falling to negative 15 degrees or so. Ling Lan couldn’t help but frown. Her talent was Ice Affinity. No matter how low the temperature was, it would not affect her. However, her teammates were not the same.

Qi Long’s physique was st.u.r.dy, which Ling Lan was not worried about. Zhao Jun was similar and would probably be able to endure this little bit of cold. Luo Lang had multiple personalities. If he couldn’t handle it, then he could activate his other personalities to withstand it. Xie Yi’s physique wasn’t bad either. Even if it meant he had to suffer a bit, it would not affect him that much. And as for the military medic Li s.h.i.+yu, he definitely had a way to protect himself against the cold. Li Lanfeng was the one who worried Ling Lan. With his body, could he really withstand such low temperatures?

Ling Lan unconsciously rubbed her fingers together, considering whether they should keep waiting or not. This was a sudden situation which made her hesitate. Should she persist on her original decision, or risk moving out for the sake of Li Lanfeng’s health?

Just when Ling Lan was hesitating and couldn’t make a decision, Little Four suddenly said, “Boss, do you still remember the introduction regarding planet Qiming?”

“I remember. The unique thing about planet Qiming is it can let you experience all four seasons in a single day.” When she first came across this information, she was surprised by it and was also looking forward to experiencing it for herself. However, during the time that they had been on planet Qiming, the temperature had always stayed around 20 degrees. The weather was so nice that she had forgotten that planet Qiming had this characteristic.

“I now suspect that we’re still on planet Qiming,” Little Four said.

Ling Lan became surprised at his words and she asked, “Didn’t you say that the trajectory and coordinates were not of planet Qiming?”

“Yes, the coordinates and the route of the stars.h.i.+p all left the known coordinates of planet Qiming. However, in the records of the Mandora star system, there was once an odd planet. It was called Gemini!”

“Gemini? That Gemini which is part of the 12 horoscopes?” The always calm and collected Ling Lan became astonished after hearing what Little Four said. Gemini. Wasn’t that a legendary horoscope? Was there really a planet named Gemini in the real world?

Little Four understood what Ling Lan was saying. He quickly shook his head and said, “Boss, it’s not the Gemini stated in the horoscopes. Well, it’s actually kind of right. You could say that in the vast universe, if there are two planets where their weather, resources, organisms and other things are practically identical, to an extent that is more than 99%… These two planets would then be called Gemini planets.”

After Little Four spoke to this part, he found that he had missed out something important and quickly added, “And these two planets are on the same star map. They are either beside each other or connected to each other. That way they will become Gemini or fake Gemini.”

“Do you think it’s possible that we are on planet Qiming’s Gemini planet? Little Four, open the location of planet Qiming on the star map,” Ling Lan ordered quickly.