Chapter 375: A Physical Constitution Problem?
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
"Even so, it's not easy for the opponent to kill him. Your leopard can still hold out for quite a while. Moreover, there are no other enemies around. This is a good opportunity to let your leopard fight a bit more. Perhaps this will make it easier for him to find his own control style."
Since there were no other enemies nearby, Little Four also became relaxed. Holding a lollipop he had whisked out from god knows where, he licked it as he gave his opinion. Little Four, who had constantly been exchanging ideas with Instructor Number Three, seemed to have the flair of a mecha instructor about him at the moment. Of course, one would first have to overlook the lollipop in his hand and that stumpy body and immature face.
Ling Lan fully agreed with Little Four's suggestion — this was undoubtedly an opportunity for the leopard to once again raise his abilities. She decided to stand by and watch for the moment, and so instructed Little Four, "Little Four, monitor our surroundings closely. If any enemies approach, notify me immediately." That said, Ling Lan clenched her fist around the giant sword in her hand. If any enemies really approached, she would have to attack to guarantee her companions' safety.
In response, Little Four patted his chest and promised to take care of everything.
Ling Lan thought about how Little Four would make some careless mistakes from time to time, but he had never disappointed her when it came to the big things. So, she relaxed and left him to it. She piloted her mecha to execute a swift flash move, and her mecha disappeared on the spot. In the next second, she had appeared next to Luo Lang, who had been the closest to her previous location.
Although Little Four had repeated once more that Qi Long's team of three was fine, having only been knocked out by the blast, Ling Lan was still concerned and wanted to check on them personally.
Meanwhile, at this moment, the five-mecha fight in the skies had in fact already become a showdown between Li Lanfeng and the special-class mecha. Li Shiyu, Han Jijyun, and Lin Zhong-qing could do nothing to interfere in the fight. They could at most look on from afar and find some opportunities to shoot their beam guns to assist Li Lanfeng.
This development was partly because the opponent's strength had multiplied due to his rage-induced outburst, so the boys could not go up and block as they had before. If they tried to block or intercept the enemy, they would definitely be shaken off by a forceful blade. In terms of power, they were already unable to fight against the special-class mecha now.
Another reason for this development was that the returned Li Lanfeng had similarly gone through a vertical increase in combat power. Even though he was piloting an advanced mecha, he was not losing to the other by much in terms of strength and technique. Many times, when the other boys had accidentally stumbled into danger, it was all thanks to Li Lanfeng that they managed to escape unscathed. These occurrences let them know that they should no longer get involved in this fight.
After fighting with the other for about 2 minutes, Li Lanfeng finally got used to the opponent's attack power and tempo, and the situation began to take a turn for the better for him. This caused the three boys observing from the side-lines to feel some relief — they had been very afraid that Li Lanfeng would end up in a perilous situation at any moment while fighting solo against the special-class operator, so their hearts had been lodged in their throats all this while.
The moment Ling Lan came up to Luo Lang's mecha, she saw that its beam shield had buffered the blast of the special-class mecha's self-destruct, so much so that its glow was almost imperceptible, making the entire mecha look dull. The outer shell of the mecha was covered in countless scars, some shallow some deep. Some of the scars had even gone so deep that she could almost see the intricate gears and circuits peeking out. However, most fortunately, there was no fatal damage around the most defensibly weak cockpit area. Ling Lan's tense emotions eased; she knew Luo Lang was in no big trouble.
Just then, Little Four, who had been monitoring the aerial fight all this while, turned with bright eyes to Ling Lan to report that Luo Lang was stirring within the cockpit.
Ling Lan immediately connected to Luo Lang's commlink and shouted, "Luo Lang, it's me, Ling Lan. Please respond."
"Boss ..." After calling out several times, Luo Lang's feeble voice finally responded from the other end of the line.
"Are you injured? Do you need Li Shiyu to treat you?" asked Ling Lan worriedly.
"It's fine, Boss. Before we left, Senior Shiyu had already given us several emergency healing agents just in case. I've just taken some, and I feel much better now." Luo Lang's voice was much stronger than before, proving that his condition was indeed improving.
Receiving confirmation that Luo Lang was fine, Ling Lan was just about to go check on Qi Long who was about 50 metres away when she saw Qi Long's mecha sit up abruptly.
A frisson of happiness passed through Ling Lan's heart and she was by Qi Long's side in the very next second. "Qi Long, how do you feel?"
Little Four had said Qi Long's injuries were roughly the same as Luo Lang's. Now, from the looks of it, the aberrant physical constitution of Qi Long's was no joke. Luo Lang's injuries had to be treated slowly by the emergency healing agents, while Qi Long's condition was obviously much better even without taking them.
Sure enough, Qi Long's reply proved this point. "I'm fine, Boss. I was just dazed for a bit. My body isn't injured at all." Qi Long's loud and powerful voice proved that he was still hale and hearty ...
"Since you're fine, let's go check on Xie Yi together. I think that Xie Yi is injured pretty badly this time," said Ling Lan to Qi Long. She was much more worried about Xie Yi. The two of them quickly entered the forest and found Xie Yi who had been blasted through several towering trees by the blast.
As it turned out, Ling Lan's prediction was not wrong. Xie Yi was truly the one in the worst condition. Having been the closest to the self-destructing mecha, he had received the most blast force from the explosion. Right after that, his mecha had gone through several consecutive collisions with the trees, causing it to be extremely battered. The entire mecha no longer sported any bit of the glow from its beam shield. The mecha's whole body was a dull sheet of grey.
Besides that, there was no way the mecha itself could have remained intact. Its left arm was completely broken at the shoulder, revealing various broken wires underneath, sparking in the air, while its right leg had been pulverized into dust by the explosion. Meanwhile, the cockpit was already pitted with dents, and there was a deep gouge starting from its edge moving up diagonally ...
Following the path of that frightening gouge on the cockpit, Qi Long's face paled drastically and he immediately controlled his mecha to squat and then swiftly opened his mecha's cockpit door. He could not wait for the landing platform to descend; Qi Long chose to leap down directly from the cockpit.
Landing on the ground, Qi Long rolled with the momentum to release the residual force safely. Then, he sprang up from the ground and using all of his limbs, he climbed up to Xie Yi's cockpit.
The cockpit passcode for all members of a team was the same. The reason for that was precisely just in case this kind of situation occurred where a teammate needed help. Qi Long clamped his fingers down on an area to the left of the cockpit, and then pulled with force, prying a small metal cover loose to reveal a numerical keypad. He swiftly keyed in a string of numbers and then with a 'click', the internal lock of the cockpit opened. The cockpit hatch automatically sprang open soon after, revealing an opening wide enough for an adult to enter.
Qi Long immediately ducked inside and not long after, he had brought Xie Yi out in his arms. Xie Yi was currently unconscious, traces of blood at the corners of his mouth, a sign that he had thrown up blood from his injuries. It looked like he had sustained some pretty serious internal injuries.
"What's Xie Yi's condition?" asked Ling Lan worriedly at the sight.
"Not too bad. He has just suffered some internal injury. I've already fed him Senior Shiyu's emergency healing agents. He should be fine." Qi Long's complexion had regained some colour. When he had first entered the cockpit and saw Xie Yi pale and barely breathing, he had almost been scared out of his wits. He had truly been afraid that this cheerful punk who had been with them for over three years would leave them just like that.
However, Senior Shiyu's emergency healing agents were really amazing. Only a few seconds after pouring them down Xie Yi's throat, Xie Yi's complexion had improved considerably and his breathing had also stabilised. It looked like they needed to have a good, long talk with Senior Shiyu in the future, thought Qi Long as he glanced at Li Shiyu in the air, who was still trying to find some opportunity to shoot.
Knowing that Xie Yi was fine now, Ling Lan relaxed and gave Qi Long instructions to take care of Xie Yi.
"Got it, Boss," answered Qi Long gravely. He walked back to his own mecha and boarded the elevation platform. He carefully carried Xie Yi into his own mecha and buckled him in securely in the auxiliary seat.
After settling all of this, only then did Qi Long close his cockpit and activate his mecha to rise up into the air again. Qi Long was well aware that from this point onwards, he was not only fighting for himself anymore; he was also fighting to protect Xie Yi. He needed to ensure that his mecha was not taken down because other than himself, Xie Yi was inside his mecha as well.
"Xie Yi, we must survive," said Qi Long under his breath, a savage light in his eyes. Rather than speaking to Xie Yi, he was saying this more for his own benefit.
Focused on his own controls, Qi Long did not notice the unconscious Xie Yi emit an almost inaudible sound of agreement in response —— hn!
After Xie Yi was transferred to Qi Long's mecha, Ling Lan felt much more reassured. Having handled the matter of Qi Long's team of three, Ling Lan finally turned her full attention to the still fighting Li Lanfeng.
"Eh? Actually fighting evenly with the other now?" Ling Lan was rather stunned. When she had gone to check on Luo Lang, Li Lanfeng was still at a disadvantage, only able to defend without being able to counterattack.
"Yeah, Boss, your leopard is truly very talented in mecha piloting. He has adapted very quickly to his new abilities after advancing and has forced out the full potential of the advanced mecha," explained Little Four upon seeing his boss's surprise at the scene. He had been keeping an eye on Li Lanfeng's fight all this while.
"Hn, the leopard's mecha control talent is indeed excellent." From the start, Ling Lan had already known this. When the two of them had practised their basic controls together, she had obtained so much extra practise time due to the cheating device, the learning space, but in the end, her results had only been that little bit better than the leopard's. If she had not had the extra buff of this cheat, perhaps she would have already lost to the leopard back then.
Little Four heard Ling Lan echo his words and instantly smiled widely. However, he soon scrunched up his little dumpling face again. Eyebrows knitted in puzzlement, he said, "However, your leopard seems to have some problems with his physical constitution."
Ling Lan quirked a brow. "What do you mean?"
"Your leopard's stamina seems like it'll be depleted soon ... he can at most fight for another 2 minutes." Having monitored him all this while, Little Four was very clear about Li Lanfeng's current condition.