Chapter 364: Prepare to Fight!
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
Having resolved this concern, Ling Lan decided that she would let loose in this battle. She sent out a mass text to all her team members, telling them that she was going to act alone from this point on. She tasked Qi Long with the responsibility of leading the team members into battle, and specially pointed out to him that if he were to encounter any issues he could not resolve on his own, he could look for Li Lanfeng and Han Jijyun for advice.
The partnership of Qi Long's brawn and Han Jijyun's brain had been intentionally cultivated by Ling Lan. However, when Ling Lan was sending off the text to Qi Long, she suddenly thought of Li Lanfeng. Over this period of interaction, Ling Lan had a good look at Li Lanfeng's abilities, and she found that he had some strengths Han Jijyun did not. If Han Jijyun could be said to be a wise man on the path of righteousness, then Li Lanfeng was the mastermind on the path of grey areas and side channels. Li Lanfeng would often think of some plans that Han Jijyun would never have considered. On the battlefield, there was no doubt that Li Lanfeng was more likely to keep the team alive.
At this thought, Ling Lan had decisively added Li Lanfeng's name to her instructions. Ling Lan believed that with both Li Lanfeng and Han Jijyun helping Qi Long to strategize, there would be no problem at all for the team members to survive this battle.
Li Lanfeng had only needed 2 to 3 minutes time to familiarise himself with the advanced mecha he had chosen. This was because he had already used real mecha before, a year ago. Thus, he was not troubled by the difficulties of adjusting from virtual mecha to real mecha like the other New Cadet Regiment members.
This was likewise for Li Shiyu; the difference between those with experience and those without was clearly evident at this moment. However, because the two of them were there, whenever Qi Long and the others had anything they did not understand, they could quickly receive an answer. This cut short the time they needed to figure things out by trial and error, allowing them to grasp the controls of their mecha faster than other people.
The team members received Ling Lan's message at almost the same time. Seeing that Ling Lan wanted to act alone, though Qi Long and the others had been mentally prepared for this, they still could not help but feel somewhat dejected. After all, with Boss around, they would feel that much more reassured.
Right after that, Qi Long conveyed Ling Lan's decision to Li Lanfeng, telling him that he was to work with Han Jijyun to help him arrange the team's battle strategy. When Li Lanfeng heard this, he was very moved but also felt deeply downhearted.
Ling Lan's decision let Li Lanfeng feel how much Ling Lan trusted him, letting him know that his rabbit sincerely cherished him. But he still felt crestfallen, because when it came time to truly go onto the battlefield, he still was not qualified enough to stand by Ling Lan's side. Obviously, this arrangement of Ling Lan's was in large part due to the fact that they were currently unable to keep up with him.
Perhaps, the rabbit's control technique was already at the level of special-class operator ... Li Lanfeng recalled his good friend Zhao Jun telling him that in a hidden room deep within the storehouse, there was a space dedicated for the storage of special-class mecha. Perhaps the rabbit had gone there. He felt a little regretful — if he had known in advance, he would not have been so stubborn about sticking with his foundational controls, refusing to advance to special-class together with Zhao Jun. If he had given up on his principles then and advanced to special-class operator, perhaps he would have had the chance to fight by the rabbit's side in the present situation.
Inexplicably, every time Li Lanfeng was by the rabbit's side, he would feel very relaxed. The looming destiny of his that was pressing down and suffocating him felt less heavy in the other's presence. He even got the feeling that changing his fate was not as hopeless as it seemed. Having borne the burden of his fate alone for twenty years, he too had moments when he felt tired, unable to cope and desirous of rest, so he especially treasured and yearned for this feeling.
Li Lanfeng did not want to take even a half step away from the rabbit. He felt that if he let the rabbit leave his life once again, he would really be crushed by this fate of his.
"I must completely master these basic controls as soon as possible ..." Li Lanfeng's low spirits only lasted for a brief instant. He had very quickly remembered that the rabbit was very particular about the basic controls — looking at Qi Long's and the others' controls, it was clear that their foundations were all very solid. If he had chosen to take the shortcut back then, the rabbit definitely would not have reacted favourably. Li Lanfeng secretly tamped down on his insecurities and silently warned himself to never ever cross over into the forbidden territory of the rabbit ... However, in order to make up the gap between himself and the rabbit, Li Lanfeng decided to double the practice load of his already doubled practice load on the basics ...
While Li Lanfeng was tangled up in his own thoughts, the time limit Ling Lan had set for them to adjust to the real mecha crept up upon them. Wu Jiong and Li Yingjie, who had arrived a few minutes later than Qi Long and the others, also seized this last bit of time to activate their selected advanced mecha and tested them out to adjust properly.
Seeing that the time limit had elapsed, Wu Jiong controlled his mecha to make a hand motion at Qi Long's and Li Yingjie's mecha, asking whether they were to go out now.
Qi Long and Li Yingjie both responded with affirmative gestures. Just like that, the three of them led the thirty or so advanced mecha to head out of the mecha storehouse. When the mecha in the intermediate mecha section saw the regiment commanders and team leaders walking out in their advanced mecha, without needing any orders, they fell into line behind their respective team leaders to move forwards in an orderly manner.
Perhaps because 100 or so mecha were walking out of the warehouse at the same time, a minor quake actually ran through the ground as they moved. However, the fighting had not spread to this area yet, so there were no enemies around to notice and discover this batch of mecha walking out from the storehouse.
All the team leaders did not say much, only reminding their team members to choose their pre-set frequencies as their team comms channel to communicate. Before they had come here, they had already discussed what they should do.
Very soon, all of the mecha had arrived at the open grounds outside. Qi Long issued a command, and the various teams dispersed swiftly, each moving in a different direction.
As the only non-ex-Central Scout Academy team there, it was clear to see that Gao Jinyun's team was rather strong since they were able to keep a full team together. However, Gao Jinyun looked over at the 30 or so advanced mecha in the distance and then looked back at the intermediate mecha he was piloting, and he could not help but feel rather disheartened.
Gao Jinyun had been convinced to submit by Ling Lan's unfathomable strength and daring strategy during the operation to take over the ship of the military academy. After entering the academy, he was even more set in his determination to follow Ling Lan and had joined the New Cadet Regiment. Of course, part of the reason he had first joined was out of some minor intention to lean back against a big tree and enjoy its shade 1 . However, following the results of the wagered fight with Leiting, Gao Jinyun had thoroughly thrown aside that little bit of selfish motive, deciding to follow Ling Lan with his full heart and soul.
Gao Jinyun was a proud person. Originally from Doha as well, although he had not been able to get into the Central Scout Academy, he had still been one of the strongest in his own scout academy. He thought that even if he could not compare to those few regiment commanders of the New Cadet Regiment, he should at least not be that much weaker than the other team leaders. But today, he was once again dealt a mental blow. Who would have expected those team leaders from the same scout academy as Ling Lan to be so strong? In such a short amount of time, they were now able to operate advanced mecha? ( Gao Jinyun did not expect the other side to have broken past the barrier at 13 years old to enter the virtual world and begin learning mecha controls early 2 . This was definitely a beautiful misunderstanding.)
"Sure enough, there will always be a mountain higher 3 . I was still overconfident before." Gao Jinyun chuckled bitterly inside his heart. This experience had smacked him awake, clearing his mind — even though he had been the strongest in his own scout academy previously, here at the First Men's Military Academy which gathered all the best and brightest, he was still greatly lacking ...
However, Gao Jinyun would not just admit defeat like this. He decided that he would work harder to train up his mecha controls and chase up to those team leaders as soon as possible. Losing to Boss Lan, Gao Jinyun was resigned to it. Losing to those other regiment commanders, he could still justify to himself that those were after all the regiment commanders. But losing to those other people who were team leaders like him, Gao Jinyun could not pardon himself. He still remembered the grand ambitions he had back when he had managed to enrol into the First Men's Military Academy — he had been determined to become part of the most outstanding batch of people within the military academy.
Just as Gao Jinyun was brimming with fighting spirit, a sound startled him out of his thoughts ...
"Third Elder Brother, are we really going to operate mecha into battle?" One of the members of his team asked with a dreamy expression on his face.
"Godd*mmit, don't use the external speakers, use the team comms." Gao Jinyun could not help but scold when he saw his team member making a mistake. Luckily, this was not yet at the war zone, otherwise this behaviour of his team member would absolutely have been akin to asking for death.
As they still were not a battle clan, they did not have an exclusive private battle clan comms channel protected by a password. Their so-called team comms was just them choosing to communicate on the same radio frequency without any security measures, so it would be very easily cracked by hackers. Still, the situation was urgent, so they could only make do for now.
Amidst the panicked noises of the team member in question, he finally switched his voice output over into the team comms channel. Only then did Gao Jinyun breathe a sigh of relief, but his brow soon scrunched up in worry again.
His team member's immature performance made him concerned. At this moment, he felt a little regretful for not removing one member whose control skills were still not very well developed just so he could keep his team in formation. Mind you, Ling Lan's original requirement was for team members proficient in controlling intermediate mecha and above. Only such members were qualified to follow him onto the battlefield and engage in mecha combat.
"Xiao Jiang, you aren't fully proficient in your control skills yet. Once we start fighting, first protect yourself well. Only attack from long-range when you find appropriate timings." After some thought, Gao Jinyun came up with this arrangement. Since he had already led his member here, he needed to take responsibility for him.
"Okay, Third Elder Brother." Xiao Jiang heard Gao Jinyun's arrangements and his nervousness abated. Honestly speaking, he really wasn't confident at all in piloting a mecha into close-range combat.
Gao Jinyun set up every member's position and then led his members in a sprint towards the battlefield. Knowing his own team was relatively weaker, Gao Jinyun did not bring his team to the dormitory district which was a chaotic mess, swarming with enemies. Instead, he led them in the opposite direction.
It should be said that there was nothing wrong with Gao Jinyun's decision. After all, the more chaotic an area was, the easier it was for accidents to happen. However, he just did not consider that those enemy mecha who appeared to be fighting alone were often those formidable combat experts filled with confidence in their own skills, which was why they dared to go off on their own to begin with ...
"Third Elder Brother, there is an enemy mecha ahead. Our scanner feedback indicates that it's an advanced mecha!" The team member in the lead who was responsible for scouting ahead suddenly warned the team.
Gao Jinyun had only received the news and had yet to make a decision when the enemy mecha noticed them and came charging over ferociously. Gao Jinyun knew that in terms of speed, intermediate mecha were no match for advanced mecha. If they chose to run, they were likely to be taken down one by one by the opponent. As such, they might as well fight with their lives on the line — perhaps by relying on teamwork, they might be able to bring down this enemy mecha.
These thoughts went by in a flash through Gao Jinyun's mind. He firmly declared, "Prepare to fight!"