Chapter 353: A Father's Responsibility!
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
Ling Xiao could not help but laugh at Lin Zhengnan's words. He did not respond until he passed by Lin Zhengnan on his way to his room. Reaching out a hand to ruffle the other's hair, his tone was fond but resigned as he said, "Brat, you're oversimplifying the issue ..."
The young were truly hot-blooded and saw things in black and white. But in the field, how could things be that simple? In the past, he too had not wanted to compromise and go with the flow, but the outcome of that was a whole 16-year separation from his family. At this thought, Ling Xiao's brow furrowed slightly ... but if they still believed he was the same Ling Xiao as before, then they would be mistaken!
Behind him, Lin Zhengnan touched his own hair in stunned amazement. He never expected his beloved and revered sir general to actually rub his head so affectionately. Excited, he looked respectfully at the figure of Ling Xiao in the distance; he did not notice that passing cold glint in Ling Xiao's eyes.
Outside the room, a hidden guard concealed in the shadows saw the interaction between Ling Xiao and Lin Zhengnan, and a trace of envy flashed through his eyes. He too was an admirer of Ling Xiao 1 . As for Lin Zhengnan's idiotic behaviour, the hidden guard could only sigh internally though he was also happy for Lin Zhengnan. Only General Ling Xiao would have the good temperament needed to accommodate Lin Zhengnan's brash and blunt character. If it had been any of the other generals, Lin Zhengnan would definitely have been mercilessly kicked aside, because he was sure to cause trouble someday.
After returning to his room, Ling Xiao sat alone quietly on his sofa. His mind, however, was busy recalling the things his daughter had told him two days ago, as well as that confession document she had secretly sent to him. Every time he thought of these things, his heart would clench with fear. If anything had happened, he would have lost his daughter completely.
Back when he had first heard that Ling Lan had received an SSS-rank mission, he had only been astonished at his daughter's horrible luck. Unwilling to see the defeated expression of his daughter after failing, and also because he wanted to increase his daughter's chances of success, he had gifted his only transferrable imperial mecha to Ling Lan, just in case.
If he had known earlier that the Swift Dragon base had been successfully infiltrated by people from the Caesar Empire, he would definitely have stopped his daughter from going on that godd*mn mission. Fortunately, there had still been an investigation team sent by the Federation military travelling along with them, and the team not only had top-class hackers but also several top-class spectres. They succeeded in drawing the attention of the Caesarians, so his daughter had managed to take advantage of that.
It had to be said that his daughter's luck at accepting missions was really terrible, but her luck in recruiting talent was off the charts. She had actually managed to recruit a spectre hiding in the civilian world and a top-class hacker (Ling Lan had told a small lie here) — and on top of that, her entire team was basically made up of advanced mecha warriors, and so possessed decent combat power. Under such dire circumstances, they had still managed to complete the mission successfully. They had obtained detailed information on the enemy, and had even managed to help the Federation investigation team from the shadows to wipe out all the Caesarian spectres. After that, they had also successfully snuck into the escape ship to return with the Federation soldiers.
When Ling Lan had told him these things, Ling Xiao was actually extremely proud, but he was also filled with fear. If anything had gone wrong at all, the result would have been utter annihilation. Even Ling Xiao could not help but admire the sheer audacity of his daughter.
Still, the outcome of the entire adventure was perfect, and the rewards they received upon its completion was also substantial. For his daughter's battle clan to leap up in one shot from starless to 5-star, it could be said to have 'ascended the skies with one step'. This rank within Mecha World was absolutely enough to place them within the top 100 battle clans.
Of course, Ling Lan's battle clan was currently no match for those battle clans at the topmost level. After all, those battle clans were all clans of old beasts that had been established for several decades already. Ling Xiao's battle clan used to be one of them, but now, unfortunately, those clan members of his from back then had all either died in battle or had left the Federation. Ling Xiao's battle clan now merely had the empty title of battle clan; it was no longer a true battle clan.
After finding out about all this, Ling Xiao had asked Ling Lan to utterly bury this incident at the bottom of her mind and tell no one. This was not only for Ling Lan's protection but also to protect that civilian hacker and spectre that had slipped past the military's radar.
At the same time, this incident made Ling Xiao realise that his daughter's ability to attract trouble was several magnitudes greater than his own. Back when he had done this clan-formation mission, he had at most caused a great furore in an enemy nation's territory, hacking up some ace operators and calling it a day. In contrast, his daughter had actually directly obliterated a whole batch of the Caesar Empire's top-class hackers and spectres ... the Caesar Empire must really be feeling the pain of their losses this time.
It looks like he'll have to have to become even stronger, or else he may really be unable to protect this powerful daughter of his who seems capable of even provoking the heavens! At this thought, Ling Xiao could not help but smile. So this was the duty of being a father — it was troubling but also so sweet and blissful that he welcomed it willingly.
Over these past two days, Ling Xiao had seemed to be idling about doing nothing, appearing unbelievably casual and at ease, but he had in fact begun secretly investigating the movements of the Caesar Empire with the secret forces of the Ling family. At the same time, he had also ordered the 23rd Division to closely monitor the movements of the various army divisions of Caesar. Unfortunately, nothing useful had come out of all this over the last two days. This made Ling Xiao feel rather uneasy. Understanding how the Caesar Empire operated, he knew that the other party absolutely would not take this affront quietly and let it go. They would definitely come for their revenge ...
Even though Ling Lan had told him that her team's involvement had not been exposed during the fight with Caesar, Ling Xiao was still worried that the powerful intelligence bureau of the Caesar Empire would still be able to dig up information on his daughter ...
"Leaving tomorrow? If only we were staying for a couple more days." Ling Xiao suddenly felt that he did not have enough time. If he had a few more days here, he could perhaps be able to create some defences. At this thought, he could not help but sigh silently. "I hope I'm just worrying for nothing."
The night passed without a word. Early the next day, all of the students of the military academy were eagerly refreshing the official forums of the First Men's Military Academy. They wanted to get first-hand information on the results of the division assessments ...
Even the freshmen were included in this frenzy because for the top three of each division's recruits, the video of their assessments would be publicised. This could perhaps give them juniors some experience. Though they knew that this was likely just their own wishful thinking — every year's assessment was not the same — the juniors of the lower years still held onto that sense of 'what if' and would go watch these assessment videos.
"Congratulations, Boss Huo!" Qiao Ting, who had already managed to get onto the official forums, sent a congratulatory message to Huo Zhenyu at first notice. Although he was rather surprised by the other's choice of enlisting with the 23rd Division and not the 1st Division as the other had previously determined, Boss Huo had still become the top recruit of the 23rd Division. As expected of their Leiting's previous regiment commander.
"Many thanks, Junior Qiao." Huo Zhenyu was also extremely happy with his results. At the same time, he saw that the others of his battle clan had also succeeded in getting into the 23rd Division. This meant that aside from the injured Nie Feng-ming who was still in recovery, every other member was in. By next year, once Nie Feng-ming succeeded in enlisting as well, their entire battle clan would be complete.
"It's just that we've lost the arena fight against the New Cadet Regiment, so in future, Junior Qiao will have to clean up the mess." After some thought, Huo Zhenyu added, "Beware of the regiment commander of the New Cadet Regiment, Ling Lan. He is really very strong."
"I believe that, when it comes to mecha combat, I will not lose to anyone," responded Qiao Ting solemnly. He knew Boss Huo was speaking out of good intentions, worried about the future clash between Leiting and the New Cadet Regiment. Therefore, he too answered Boss Huo seriously, telling the other that he had nothing to worry about.
Huo Zhenyu was silent for a moment before answering, "Junior Qiao, it's good that you are confident." He had no way of telling Qiao Ting that the feeling Ling Lan gave him was one of unfathomable depth. In the end, all he wanted to say was reduced to just this — even as he acknowledged Qiao Ting's statement, he was trying to give himself some confidence.
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Meanwhile, in Ling Lan's villa, Qi Long and the others were also refreshing the forums. Of course, their attention was focused on the 23rd Division because that was their boss's father's division and was likely their future destination.
"Aaaaaaaah, I did not expect Uncle Ling to take in Huo Zhenyu's gang ..." Qi Long was the first to see the results, instantly clicking onto the 23rd Division to see its final acceptance name list. Those few familiar names sent him howling uncontrollably.
As Ling Xiao was Boss Lan's father, even though Ling Xiao's actual age was much younger than their own fathers, they still chose to respectfully call him Uncle Ling. Lying on the sofa, reading the information on the various open and hidden factions within the Ling family her father had given to her, when Ling Lan heard the address of 'Uncle Ling', her stony, cold face could not help but spasm. Alright, just imagining it — her father's young face really clashed with this title of 'uncle'.
"What's so surprising about that? Other than being no match for our Boss Lan, Huo Zhenyu's physical skills are the best in the whole military academy." Seeing these results, Han Jijyun was not surprised.
"I just can't figure out why he chose to enlist with the 23rd Division," said Qi Long as he rubbed his head, baffled. From the gossip Xie Yi had gathered, Huo Zhenyu was an admirer of the First Marshal — he had long ago sworn to apply for enlistment with the 1st Division.
"Perhaps because the commander of the 23rd Division is Uncle Ling Xiao," remarked Luo Lang, face filled with admiration. "In future, I too want to apply for the 23rd Division ..." That said, Luo Lang suddenly realised that his boss had not stated which division he would be applying to yet. So, he quickly asked his boss, "Boss, will you apply to the 23rd Division?"
Ling Lan turned off the virtual screen in her hands and said evenly, "Why wouldn't I? It's always good to have someone covering for you."
Ling Lan knew well that even if she chose to apply for the other divisions, her father would definitely use his authority to override her choice and bring her to the 23rd Division anyway. As such, why should she go against her dad's wishes and waste the effort? Besides, she was not against going to the 23rd Division.
"Then it's settled. We'll all apply to the 23rd Division together," said Luo Lang excitedly. His words made all the companions by his side nod emphatically; they had long decided that they would follow Ling Lan. Moreover, Ling Xiao was already their idol to begin with — they were very willing to go to the 23rd Division.
Luo Lang's excitement had just peaked when his mood dipped. Frowning in worry, he wondered aloud, "Who knows how the three new members will choose?"