Chapter 309: SSS-Rank!
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
Out of options, Ling Lan could only say outright, "City Lord Luo Yixuan, I am here to receive a clan-formation mission. Let's not beat around the bush anymore and stop wasting each other's time."
Hearing Ling Lan call out his name directly, the city lord Luo Yixuan knew for sure that his identity had been seen through by the other. Because to the general outside world, his information was only listed as the city lord of Grandsweep City; his full name would not be displayed. It was very likely that the other had found some other clue to his identity from some other source. This also made it so that he could not continue to hold back from giving out the clan-formation mission.
Yet he did not want to make things so easy for this arrogant and impolite punk. An idea struck him and he instantly brought out a large spin wheel and said coldly, "I can give you a mission if you want, but whether or not you can actually receive one will all depend on your luck."
Ling Lan looked at that familiar large spin wheel once more, but this time, its segments were not marked with various mecha but with various mission options for forming a clan. More than half of the segments were labelled with the word 'failure' outright — she could just tell that this was the city lord Luo Yixuan's doing. She thought back on the two times she had spun a rabbit mecha and could not help but cringe inside. What if her spinning luck was bad here ...
Ling Lan was not really worried about the failures, because if she received a 'failure', she could just wait till a week later to try and receive a mission again. She glanced briefly at that terrifying SSS-rank mission on one of the segments in the spin wheel and could not help but gulp silently. Hells, if her spin landed on that, it would definitely be even more tragic than getting a 'failure'. As far as she knew, no one had ever completed an SSS-rank mission up till now ... she did not want to spend her entire life struggling with this mission.
"What? If you're afraid, you can just choose to give up directly and just come again next week," said the city lord Luo Yixuan coldly, arms folded across his chest.
Damm*t, her luck could not be that bad all the time! Ling Lan would never choose to give up voluntarily; she decisively pressed down on the handle of the large spin wheel. The spin wheel began to spin rapidly — Ling Lan pressed her lips tightly together, praying in her heart for the SSS-rank mission to stay away ... and the large spin wheel finally stopped.
Ling Lan first reflex was to stare down at her own hand. Her hand was obviously so white and soft ... why was her hand-luck so black then?! She even began to curse herself — why did she even think about the SSS-rank mission while the wheel had been spinning? Didn't she know how the more she didn't want something, the more likely it was to come?
Ling Lan had no tears even though she felt like crying. She could not help but sigh loudly at the skies. Reality proved that she was natural enemies with large spin wheels — in the end, the needle firmly pointed at a mission of SSS-rank. Ling Lan's first thought was whether she should just choose to give up and come again next week.
However, before Ling Lan could decide, the city lord, who had been equally stunned by the results, very quickly came to himself. Chortling sinisterly, he withdrew a token from a pocket and threw it into Ling Lan's lap, and then ... he immediately ran away.
Amidst the schadenfreude-filled laughter of the city lord which had yet to fade, Ling Lan stared speechlessly down at the mission token in her hands, a green vein spasming uncontrollably at her temple ... no matter how much the city lord did not like her, he still could not be so irresponsible as to just dump the mission token on her and leave! At the very least he should give her a mission introduction and offer some useful tips or suggestions ... what an extremely irresponsible NPC! Ling Lan decided that she would definitely submit a complaint about this city lord of Grandsweep City. An NPC just could not be that shameless.
With no other recourse, Ling Lan could only try to get more information from the token in her hands. She had just straightened the token when a notification popped up on a virtual screen before her.
"Clan-formation mission, mission ranking: SSS-rank. Mission content: A month ago, Fleet Swift Dragon, which is stationed at the Nebula Boundary, sent over an extremely subtle S.O.S. As the message was too brief, the Federation military was unable to determine whether it was a mistake or a true request for assistance. Although headquarters sent a team over to investigate, they did not discover anything out of the ordinary. Despite everything looking normal, the Federation military is not completely convinced. They have decided to secretly send an unofficial civilian expedition to look around the Nebula Boundary to find out once and for all what the S.O.S. was about. Upon completion of the mission, the Federation shall convey the official status of battle clan on the expedition team. The team will from then on be granted the same rights and benefits as military troops of the same rank ..."
"As expected of an SSS-rank mission. How troublesome." Reading the mission introduction, Ling Lan's mood became very horrible. This mission was not easy. One, the people they were supposed to contact were unclear. Two, the situation at the Nebula Boundary was unclear. Three, as a civilian expedition party, entering a location controlled by the Federation military ... that was definitely seeking death. Any random person within a trained fleet would be able to drown their entire expedition team with just a mouthful of spit.
Moreover, how they could covertly get to the Nebula Boundary was also an extremely difficult matter. In short, this mission was already extremely tricky from the very beginning, and the further they progressed, the harder things would be. Also, Ling Lan did not believe that military headquarters would really just send them, this one team. It was highly likely that while they were acting, the military would also send another investigative team to secretly sneak into the Nebula Boundary to investigate. At the bottom of it all, they were just the diversionary lure to draw away the guard troops of the Nebula Boundary.
"Perhaps, giving up would be better for us." Ling Lan felt that this mission was absolutely impossible at the level of her current party.
Ling Lan was not someone who was blindly confident. When the difficulty of a mission was truly worlds apart from her team's capabilities, Ling Lan would rationally choose to give up. She did not want to lead her companions into danger recklessly. Even though dying in the game would not lead to true death, Ling Lan was worried that this would instil the habit of risk-taking within herself. This character trait was undesirable as it could very well hurt everyone in the real world. Ling Lan was constantly on guard against it.
Having come to a decision, Ling Lan instantly threw the token onto the ground without any hesitation. In Mecha World, whether it was equipment, resources, medical agents, or materials, as long as it was dumped somewhere, the system would wipe it away with a refresh when time ran out. The same applied to mission tokens. As long as one chose to cast it aside, the mainframe would judge it as a mission failure ... then, she would be able to come back one week later and accept a new mission. Of course, after failing, the one who accepted the mission would have to pay some price; Ling Lan felt that this was still much more worth it than recklessly risking their lives.
However, what happened next proved that Ling Lan's internal abacus was inaccurate. When Ling Lan chose to discard the token, the system actually notified her that the mission was already bound to her and could not be discarded ... in other words, the mission she had received was a death command that could not be refused.
Seeing this notification, Ling Lan could not help but show a middle finger to the virtual screen. D*mmit, mainframe, you're just too shameless!
However, since this was already done, Ling Lan did not waste time panicking or despairing. She decided to go back and discuss with her companions how they wanted to complete this mission.
Ling Lan very quickly returned from whence she came and was transported back to the gates of the city lord's manor. Back outside the manor, Ling Lan once again reappeared in her intermediate mecha. Seeing their boss reappear, Qi Long and the others asked Ling Lan excitedly whether she had received a mission.
Ling Lan did not reply, instead asking them to move to a quieter location first. Only then did she share the details of the mission with them. When the others saw the contents of the mission, they instantly fell silent.
Ling Lan smiled wryly. It looked like this mission had scared her companions. She was just about to speak up and explain when Qi Long could be heard to roar excitedly, "Boss, you are just too awesome! Actually obtaining an SSS-rank mission that has not appeared in over several hundred years. I really just need to follow boss and there will be crazy awesome things to do ..."
"Yeah! I can't believe that there's something so exciting to do again so soon!" Xie Yi was just as excited.
"I had just been thinking that Boss would likely bring us an extremely high-level mission. Who would have expected Boss to dish out an SSS-rank mission just like that? My guts are still no match for Boss's," sighed Han Jijyun.
Han Jijyun had always set figuring out Ling Lan's thoughts as his highest goal. However, reality proved that he had still failed this time. Boss was even more savage than he had imagined ... but this was their boss! Forever doing things others would not dare to do. Han Jijyun could not know that this mission was not something Ling Lan had asked for on her own initiative, but was rather something that had been forcefully thrown upon Ling Lan.
"In any case, whatever Boss decides to do, I'll do." Luo Lang had no opinion whatsoever on this; he had long decided to follow his boss faithfully.
"If it's a mission of this level, the resources I prepared previously will be lacking considerably. I'll need to go supplement them as soon as possible." At this moment, Lin Zhong-qing was already thinking about how he could compensate for the ranking of the mission. He had no objections at all on accepting this mission.
Ling Lan stared at this group of audacious people and sweatdropped. Fine, she had forgotten that not many of her companions were normal. Earlier when she had thought they had been scared stiff, her mind must have short-circuited for a moment to even consider it.
Ling Lan turned her head to look at the other three silent people, thinking that these three at least must be shocked ... after all, those abnormal people like her companions should still be the minority.
And so Ling Lan addressed [No Mecha Unrepaired], saying, "[No Mecha Unrepaired], the mission this time is unexpectedly difficult. You can reconsider your invitation to join this battle clan if you would like." [No Mecha Unrepaired] was after all not that close with them. If by any chance they did not manage to complete the mission, Ling Lan did not want to drag [No Mecha Unrepaired] down with them.
"No, I want to join the battle clan, and I also want to follow you all for the mission ..." At Ling Lan's words, [No Mecha Unrepaired] quickly responded emphatically, "I was just moved earlier that I actually have the chance to participate in an SSS-rank mission. This is just too unbelievable." [No Mecha Unrepaired]'s voice actually contained a trace of dreaminess.
"An SSS-rank mission that one might only see once in several hundred years ... there is indeed a need to see this. Besides, I believe you all will need my treatment ability even more." [Priceless Kinship] deviated from his usual indifference, becoming unbelievably enthusiastic. It was clear to see how much attraction the SSS-rank mission held for him as well.
The corners of Ling Lan's lips could not help but twitch. Hells, what kind of members were these whom she had taken in?! Each even more abnormal than the one before, actually so eager to attempt a mission normal people would never dare to touch ... She could not help but look towards [Self-Defined Destiny]; her leopard should be a normal person, right?
Li Lanfeng rubbed his jaw and asked with clear interest, "Say, do you all think that by completing this mission, the reward we receive will also be of a legendary level?"
"Legendary level?" Everyone sucked in a sharp breath ... within the mecha comms channel, Ling Lan could practically hear the endless dripping sounds of drooling.
Ling Lan stared up into the sky, speechless. She really could not expect much of her team members. As members of a team led by an abnormal person (a freak), they really could never be normal either ...