Chapter 324: The Truth!
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
At this time, in another room, Ling Lan and Li Lanfeng who had already finished registering were currently laid out on their beds, resting.
Not too long after, Ling Lan received a text message. She flicked open her communicator to look and was instantly immensely excited. In the very next second, she had extremely impolitely kicked at Li Lanfeng on the upper bunk.
Feeling the force coming from his mattress, Li Lanfeng sat up in puzzlement. Before he could ask Ling Lan on the bunk below what had happened, Ling Lan said, "There's news of #2 and the others. Clean up quickly and let's go look for them."
Li Lanfeng's eyes lit up. He put on a jacket and then leapt off the bed to follow Ling Lan heading towards where Qi Long was staying.
The reason Ling Lan received this news so quickly was not because of Little Four's abilities. Of course, if Qi Long and the others' information were to be registered, Little Four, who was already lurking in the network of the Swift Dragon base, would definitely be able to obtain the news at soonest notice. However, in order to let everything seem natural and above-board, when she had registered herself, Ling Lan had generously bribed the support staff of the Swift Dragon base. Of course, she had also let Li Lanfeng utilise that natural ability of his to gain favour with others and intensify the other side's good impression of them, thus successfully securing the other's agreement to help them.
In reality, right when Qi Long and the others' information had been registered, Ling Lan had already been notified by Little Four. However, Ling Lan had kept calm and continued to lay on her bed as if she knew nothing. Only when she received the notification from that support staff did she pretend to be excited and take action.
Of course, the other was not breaking any rules of the base by helping them. After all, Ling Lan and Li Lanfeng were just trying to find their comrades who had gotten split up from them — it's not like they were trying to inquire about the secrets of the base. Moreover, right now within the Swift Dragon base, Ling Lan was not the only person who was doing this. Many other soldiers who had been separated from their original teammates for various reasons had similarly put forward such requests. Ling Lan had only included an additional minor reward when she had made her request.
This reward was very simple — it was just a bottle of high proof liquor Ling Lan had on her for first-aid purposes. Under Little Four's assistance, Ling Lan had found out that this person's hobby was to drink.
As for why Ling Lan would have such high proof liquor on her ... ahem, ahem, this was actually a remnant habit Ling Lan had brought over from her last life lying on her sickbed. Having gotten used to the idea that alcohol should be used on wounds to sterilize them, she really could not adapt to this world where no prep work was done, with healing agents being directly sprayed or applied onto open wounds and leaving it at that.
Mentally, Ling Lan had always had some fear with regards to this sort of treatment method. What if, by any chance, there was tetanus or something similar about? Wasn't this just asking for trouble? Therefore, she habitually carried several bottles of high-proof liquor with her in her backpack. If she was injured accidentally, she would open one of the bottles to use the alcohol in it to disinfect the wound before spraying healing agents on it ...
With regards to this habit of Ling Lan's, although Qi Long and the others were puzzled by it, they would never question her. They only speculated secretly whether this was because their boss liked alcohol but was forbidden by his parents to drink ... could this be why he had sought out such an unreasonable reason?
It could only be said that some things were already ingrained habits of Ling Lan's. It was impossible for her to change them in a short period of time. Thus, without her knowledge, Ling Lan had become someone who liked to drink in her team members' eyes 1 .
Back when Ling Lan had brought out the liquor and handed it over as an incentive for the support staff, even Li Lanfeng could not help but sweatdrop silently and wonder if Ling Lan was an alcohol-loving rabbit — why else would he think of using alcohol as a bribe?
Still, for whatever reason, overall, Ling Lan's reward had pleased that support staff greatly. Consequently, the other was extremely cooperative, almost notifying them at first notice. This led Li Lanfeng to once again be in awe — the seemingly random and reckless actions of the rabbit always seemed to end up being extremely effective.
The two of them very quickly found the resting spot of Qi Long and the others and knocked on the door.
The one who opened the door was again Yang Yilong — who asked him to be the one sleeping on the bed closest to the door? Opening the door, he saw two strangers, so he asked, "Who are you looking for?"
"Is Luo Ying and company here?" asked Ling Lan coldly. That icy gaze of hers made Yang Yilong feel a chill invade his heart — he quickly ducked back into the room and shouted, "Captain Luo, someone's looking for you."
Hearing this, Qi Long's eyes lit up and he leapt off his top bunk to rush over with wide steps to the door. Seeing his boss's familiar face, he was instantly overwhelmed with emotion, "Leader, you've finally come!"
Qi Long's cry of leader made the other members inside the room leap up in excitement, all of them running over as well.
Yang Yilong was astonished at the sight, but thinking of the impression that person at the doorway had given him, he understood why these mecha team members would be so worked up. Only someone like that could gain the allegiance of proud mecha warriors. With just one glance, Yang Yilong could tell that that team leader was most definitely a formidable warrior. This was because he had felt a similar pressure from the team leader of the Leiguang Battle Clan.
Seeing his other two companions peeking out from their beds, nonverbally asking who the visitor was, Yang Yilong silently indicated for them to remain silent and continue to sleep and not disturb the group.
A mecha team leader was an existence high, high above them mecha support staff — he did not want to incur the displeasure of that team leader.
Qi Long and the others hugged Ling Lan excitedly in succession, and only then did they see the familiar smiling face standing by Ling Lan's side. Other than [No Mecha Unrepaired], all the others could not help but be taken aback, especially Li Shiyu, whose face actually stiffened noticeably for a brief moment.
Seeing this, Li Lanfeng smiled wryly and said, "#8, for previously planning to try and snatch your position in the team from you out of envy, I'm sorry. The crisis this time has let me understand that status, levels, and whatever are all not important. What's most important is my companions. I hope you can forgive me."
Li Shiyu only huffed at those words and turned his head aside without speaking. He knew his own expression had been slightly off — if some surveillance device had just happened to record it, a flaw might have already been discovered. Li Lanfeng was undoubtedly trying to help him hide his slip in composure, but he was just unused to acting and really did not know how to handle the situation.
Seeing this, Xie Yi tugged on Li Shiyu's arm and said, "All of us being able to survive is already a blessing. Why bother with things of the past? Don't you agree, #8?"
Li Shiyu saw everyone looking at him with smiles on their faces and could only reply grudgingly, "Forget it. Let's not talk about past matters anymore."
Only then did Li Lanfeng sigh in relief. He stepped forward to pull Li Shiyu into a strong hug and said, "Thank you, brother, for your tolerance and understanding ..." Only Li Lanfeng knew that he was not just putting on an act when he said this ... he truly hoped that, one day in the future, Li Shiyu could say these same words back to him. However, Li Lanfeng also knew that this was probably an impossible dream.
Seeing this, Ling Lan clapped her hands together forcefully and said, "It's great that you two have buried the hatchet. In future, we must be united. We shouldn't fight amongst ourselves anymore." Ling Lan's words marked the end of the matter, and the group happily welcomed Ling Lan and Li Lanfeng into their room.
Meanwhile, Li Lanfeng latched onto Li Shiyu and the two of them moved to sit on Li Shiyu's bed, where they began whispering to one another. It looked like they had truly buried the hatchet.
Only Li Lanfeng himself knew that despite his seeming composure, he was actually greatly shocked. When he had first seen Li Shiyu, as good as he was at deception, he had almost slipped up and reacted. That bloody Ling Lan had not given him a heads up that his family's Li Shiyu had also joined the battle clan.
Seeing Li Shiyu's face filled with innocence, Li Lanfeng could not help but sigh internally. What in the world did their Li family owe Ling Lan? Not only had he joined, even Li Shiyu who should not have been able to join had joined ... still, he could not help but become smug deep inside. As expected of his rabbit — able to do what others could not.
If he had the rabbit's help in the future, would he too be able to escape his so-called fate ...? Li Lanfeng's gaze flickered but very quickly settled as he tossed aside this idiotic notion of his. He absolutely could not harm the rabbit. To go against the heavens and change his fate, a terrible price would have to be paid. Grandfather Zhuge had already stated this very clearly from the start. And this price, could very well be his life.
Although Li Lanfeng was physically speaking with Li Shiyu, his mind was distracted in recalling when he and Ling Lan had first seen each other's true faces in this virtual world not too long ago.
When they had arrived at the Swift Dragon base, Ling Lan and Li Lanfeng naturally had to leave their mecha. Of course, they had it much easier than Qi Long and the others because in the virtual world, both Ling Lan and Li Lanfeng were miraculous beings. Because she had Little Four, Ling Lan could easily change her original civilian mecha suit into an official military mecha suit. Meanwhile, Li Lanfeng was a spectre, and though he could not directly change the fixed settings of the virtual world, he could apply a disguise to himself. Thus, when the two had come out from their mecha, their appearance was flawless, no different at all from the other mecha operators.
However, when Ling Lan and Li Lanfeng had met face-to-face for the first time after getting out from their mecha, Li Lanfeng had almost stumbled and revealed his true feelings. If not for the fact that his spectre abilities also hid his expression, his flabbergasted expression would certainly have aroused suspicion in those around him.
In contrast, Ling Lan's ice mask had long been formed, so it did not collapse even when she had seen Li Lanfeng.
"Boss ...!" Li Lanfeng bit back on the 'Lan' that had been about to come out, stopping his outburst at only 'boss', making it seem like he was just greeting his own team leader.
"#9, keep up." Ling Lan's glacial gaze had contained a hidden warning. Although others may not be able to see Li Lanfeng's true expression, perhaps because she was way too familiar with the leopard, Ling Lan had still sensed Li Lanfeng's loss of composure.
This gaze made Li Lanfeng's initially shocked and restless heart cool down instantly. He bowed his head and cuffed his own forehead lightly, chiding himself for his slip. They had both not known about the other, but Ling Lan had still been able to keep calm. In terms of mentality, he had completely lost to the rabbit who was younger than him by three years. This made him feel somewhat embarrassed.
Right then, Li Lanfeng was not at all surprised at why Ling Lan could have logged onto Mecha World at just 10 years old back then. As someone who was able to create a similar disguise as him now, Ling Lan was undoubtedly a spectre just like him. And for spectres in the virtual world, all those so-called restrictions and limits were all inapplicable. None of it could prevent them from moving about as they wished. Thus, for Ling Lan to be able to enter Mecha World at just 10 years old was completely believable.
That said, Li Lanfeng could not help but sigh to himself. At 10 years old, Ling Lan's spectre abilities had actually been strong enough that he had not noticed a thing. No wonder they had had such affinity back then — even if he had entered the mecha training hall first, the rabbit had still always been able to come unerringly to the training hall he had chosen. Now, thinking back, Ling Lan must have used his own spectre abilities to find where he was.
Was this proof that the rabbit had held him with just as much esteem as he had back then? Which was why the other had used spectre abilities to look for his position and stage a coincidental meeting?
Li Lanfeng felt a surge of warmth in his heart. It looked like his friendship had not been one-sided back then. If he had only told Ling Lan bravely about his real identity back then, perhaps they would be bosom friends now and he would not be ranked behind the other companions of the rabbit.
Right then, a trace of regret rose up uncontrollably in Li Lanfeng's heart. However, it was quickly throttled by him, because he did not think it was too late to change things.
In this manner, although Li Lanfeng's heart had struggled a little, he still accepted Ling Lan. After all, Ling Lan was younger than him by 3 years, while the rabbit had always been a formidable existence in his heart, a strong person he admired. As such, it was exceedingly normal for him to flounder a little to reconcile the difference between the two impressions. Still, these were all minor blips. Li Lanfeng would never bear to give up the rabbit he had missed for so long and had spent 7 years to find.
Meanwhile, when Ling Lan found out the true identity of the leopard, her first thought was — sure enough, the leopard was very dangerous. Her second thought was — the leopard was truly not a good person!
Still, Ling Lan did not mind. As long as the leopard treated her with sincerity and did not harm her companions, she would not care what terrible things the leopard would do in the future. She would still be willing to save a spot for the leopard in her battle clan.
Of course, at present, this was all the weight Li Lanfeng had in Ling Lan's heart. In contrast, if Qi Long and the others planned to do something bad, Ling Lan would definitely roll up her sleeves and pitch in to come up with strategies to help them.
Fine, our queen Ling Lan indeed did not have any so-called true sense of justice in her. She only wanted to take good care of these little followers who trusted her and were willing to follow her, as well as cultivate them to become strong people capable of holding their own in their respective fields.