Chapter 358: This is Real Battle!
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
"Okay, then I'll leave everything to you both," said Ling Lan solemnly before turning to look at Chang Xinyuan to say, "Chang Xinyuan, you follow them!"
Chang Xinyuan's expression changed and he asked, "Why, Boss Lan?"
"This is a real battle. Your mecha control skills will not keep you alive on the battlefield." Ling Lan did not care about protecting Chang Xinyuan's feelings, bluntly telling him the reason for her order. This was not Mecha World, where Chang Xinyuan had his own modified mecha; all the mecha in the mecha storehouse would be standard mecha. Like Ling Lan had said, to survive the battlefield, they would need to rely on their own control skills and techniques.
Ling Lan's merciless words made Chang Xinyuan lower his head in shame. Ling Lan saw the dejected Chang Xinyuan and gave a mental sigh. It looked like she would not be able to set aside the role of spiritual life coach anytime soon. Thus, she said, "There will be many more opportunities to fight. Train your control skills up well after this so that, at that time, you will be able to move alongside us."
Ling Lan's words of reassurance did not make Chang Xinyuan feel much better. He clenched his fists tight with his head bowed, an uncontrollable sense of disappointment and rage in his heart. He was disappointed because he was being left behind again ... this was already the second time, and the reason for both times was the same — his mecha control skills were not up to par.
He knew that the support members of other battle clans typically would not go to the battlefield personally, using their talents to serve their battle clans from the rear instead. However, he did not want to become that type of support member. He wanted to be Lin Zhong-qing, or Li Shiyu, or Han Jijyun — they were all support members, but their combat prowess was formidable enough that he looked up to them. The more time he spent with them, the more keenly he felt his incompetence. The modification innate talent he was so proud of had no place at all here ... yes, he was angry at his own helplessness. If he had just spent a little more effort in the past to train up his mecha control skills, perhaps he would not have had to be left behind now.
However, this was the last time. He absolutely would not allow Boss Lan to leave him behind for the third time! Chang Xinyuan made this solemn vow to himself. Then, he lifted his head decisively to look at his boss and say firmly, "I will no longer be the weak link, Boss Lan. I will do what I say."
Even Wu Jiong and Li Yingjie standing to one side could feel Chang Xinyuan's determination, and they found their admiration growing even more for Ling Lan's ability to attract talent. Those who Boss Lan took in, no matter how useless they were at first, would soon go through tremendous changes, and this was something they could not replicate.
Chang Xinyuan's words made Ling Lan's heart move. She nodded seriously and said, "I believe you!" Ling Lan was more than glad to see a team member want to become stronger.
Right after that, Ling Lan turned to look at Wu Jiong and Li Yingjie and said, "Take action immediately. If the enemy manages to land successfully and get into the school, you all really won't be able to move anywhere anymore." The dormitory district was equipped with a full defensive beam shield. Once it activated due to artillery fire, those within the district would not be able to get out anymore, unless this defensive shield was broken by external forces.
Ling Lan did not think highly of this defensive beam shield. In her eyes, this was a design failure, which forced the students inside to become turtles in a jar. The moment the defensive beam shield was shattered, those cadets made to remain within the dormitory district would be served up to the enemy on a platter. This was also why Ling Lan had asked the students of the New Cadet Regiment to relocate to the anti-air shelter.
"Yes, Boss Lan!" Wu Jiong and Li Yingjie knew that time was short. Without further delay, they immediately went outside with Chang Xinyuan and led the second group swiftly away from Ling Lan's villa, sprinting towards their destination.
Following the departure of group two, the New Cadet Regiment which originally stood at near 300 members suddenly lost about half their number. Only about a little more than 100 members remained, and most of them were ex-students of the Central Scout Academy. They had fought alongside Ling Lan during the grand armed melee, as well as hijacked a spaceship with her. Now, under Ling Lan's lead once more, they were about to break into the military academy's mecha storehouse and engage in real mecha battle much earlier than expected. Newborn calves are not afraid of tigers — they were not afraid to fight; thoughts of the upcoming battle made them immensely excited instead.
It should be known that only cadets with exceptional results would have the chance to board real mecha and battle with them in their third year at the academy. Otherwise, they would only be able to use real mecha in their fourth year. But now, under Ling Lan's lead, this moment was brought forward by two to three years. They were even heading straight into the actual combat stage! This once again reinforced the notion that if they followed Boss Lan, they would definitely have lots of thrills to sink their teeth into 1 and would be able to do some things they would never have dared to even dream of on their own ...
Ling Lan looked around at these unusually excited faces and was secretly rather worried. Being too excited was not a bad thing, but they could not lose their calm. In particular, all these people had followed her since the Central Scout Academy days. Every time she pushed to do something outrageous, these schoolmates would support her without any hesitation or regret. It could be said that without their support, the grand armed melee back then would never have been launched at all. And without their full cooperation, taking control of the spaceship would not have gone so smoothly.
This time, she had boldly chosen to break into the mecha storehouse. Although a part of it was indeed a matter of personal safety — in the face of an overwhelming horde of enemy mecha, only mecha could provide Ling Lan with a sense of safety — a larger part was because she truly wanted to give these schoolmates who trusted her an extra measure of protection and the ability to truly decide their own survival. This way, she hoped that after tonight, she would still be able to see these schoolmates tomorrow ...
Ling Lan's entire aura unfolded as her ice-cold gaze swept dispassionately over the gathered people. Everyone there felt the icy blade of her gaze scrape across their skin, a chill rising from within them, and their initially restless excitement instantly cooled down.
Seeing the clarity and level-headedness in everyone's eyes once again, only then did Ling Lan say slowly, "I repeat once more that this is a real battle, not a game. It is not the virtual Mecha World where you can revive again after dying. The enemy we are about to face are real enemies. They are experienced battle veterans, they are fearsome executioners. If we die, it will be true death. There is no second chance ... even so, will you all still follow me to the mecha storehouse and operate mecha to fight the enemy to the death?"
"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Ling Lan's words caused everyone's blood to boil. They seemed to have returned back to the time of the grand armed melee ... Ling Lan had asked something similar back then. That year, the same words shouted by the hundred thousand or so students of the 7th grade at the same time had seemed much more grand and impressive ...
"Then, I'll set the battle plan. Everyone, listen closely." Ling Lan once again circulated her spiritual power, funnelling her words forcefully into the spiritual well of these hundred or so students. "We will move and fight in small units. Remember, do not fight alone. Always keep in mind that while we fight for ourselves, we are also fighting for the comrades beside us. And one last thing. That is, we must come back alive!"
When Ling Lan roared out that final phrase, she used her strongest burst of spiritual power yet. She was about to lead her schoolmates in breaking into the mecha storehouse to fight with the enemy, all so that the students would live and become stronger — she did not want them to die here.
Ling Lan's words rallied the spirits of the cadets. The words 'come back alive' was imprinted deeply in their minds. At the same time, they glanced in unplanned unison at the companions by their sides and their initially somewhat uneasy hearts settled. At the sight of their friends, their agitation and uncertainty silently faded away. Boss Lan was right — they still had their comrades beside them; they were not fighting alone!
Just like that, Ling Lan led the hundred odd students away from the dormitory district in a rapid sprint towards the mecha storehouse about 10 kilometres away. In the meantime, far away in the opposite direction of their route, the endless roar of artillery fire sounded, accompanied by the occasional burst of fire illuminating the night sky.
As the ground forces had been unable to locate their targets with the radars, they could only rely on manual infrared telescopes to search out the enemy. After waiting patiently for more than 10 minutes, those airborne visitors they had waited so long for finally appeared in the sights of their infrared telescopes ...
"Chief, there's news! Countless unidentified objects have really appeared in the air above ..." The ground control headquarters, which had been waiting for news all this time, finally obtained the verification they needed.
"Son of a b*tch. Those f*ckers have finally come." The commander brusquely tore off his cap and threw it onto the ground. He tugged on his sleeves and then bellowed, "All artillery units, prepare to fire. Once the enemy is within range, shoot without mercy!"
"Yes, Chief!" The commander's words were very quickly transmitted by his subordinate officers. After some thought, the commander added, "Let the ground mecha forces prepare for battle. Those metal eggs must all contain mecha. Any mecha fortunate enough to survive and land are to be swiftly handled by the mecha teams."
The commander's orders were quickly passed on to the ground mecha troops. The mecha troops had long made preparations for battle. Receiving this order, they immediately dispersed with a column of troops making up each combat unit. Based on the information they had received from above, the metal eggs were raining down from all over, so no one would be able to tell which nook and cranny might have an enemy mecha which had landed successfully. Therefore, they had no choice but to spread out and search for those enemy mecha that had been lucky enough to evade the artillery fire.
Meanwhile, at this time, the starships in the skies had no idea that the secret invasion plan they had believed to be so flawless had been exposed by the presence of a miraculous intelligence entity. It had created some false information, allowing the ground forces to react in time and make the appropriate tactical arrangements ...
Finally, the metal eggs entered the range of the ground artillery. All of the cannons opened fire simultaneously, and the darkness of the night was suddenly ripped asunder by countless streaks of blazing fire as projectiles struck the first batch of metal eggs closest to the ground ...
After being struck by artillery fire, the metal eggs abruptly split open, dropping three or four mecha from within it ... some of the mecha still seemed fairly intact, but some had been instantly destroyed by the force of the artillery fire.
Although the metal eggs had the ability to hide from radars, there was a condition. The items loaded inside the eggs could not have any energy responses, otherwise this concealment ability would be disrupted. Thus, all of the mecha contained within the eggs were turned off. The operators inside had planned to only activate their mecha in the final 100 metres before they landed and break out of the egg's shell then ... mecha which were stripped of their defences were fragile. If a vital point was hit, it too would not be able to withstand a single attack from a normal cannon.
"What is going on here? How did the ground forces learn about our sneak attack?" The situation below was very quickly grasped by the fleet in space. The commander-in-chief could not help but growl furiously when he saw the tragic scene occurring below.