Chapter 503 - Taken Advantage Of vs Being Taken Advantage Of!

Chapter 503: Taken Advantage Of vs Being Taken Advantage Of!

Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

“This is unbelievable!” The vice president was surprised at this outcome. Although he wasn’t capable of becoming an outstanding mecha master due to talent, having studied the basics of operating, he knew clearly that what had happened was a miracle—facing three times the amount of opponents, defeating the 24-man battle team and not losing a single member out of the 7-man team.

Ling Xiao’s right hand that was set down danced around for a bit. He said while smiling, “Mr. Vice President, this is really nothing. This seven-man team winning this battle is actually more because of luck. If something like this were to happen again, the result may be very different.”

The vice president grew more interested upon hearing this. He quickly asked why Ling Xiao would make such an assumption.

Ling Xiao answered, “Actually, the biggest problem of the 24-man team was that their team leaders had issues.” He listed out his thoughts, “Firstly, the team leaders underestimated their opponents. They also affected their other team members to similarly underestimate their opponents. This was also the reason why many of their mecha were shot down in the initial exchange. This is actually the main point that affected the battle. If they hadn’t underestimated their opponents and were more careful, the seven-man team wouldn’t have had any chance.

“Secondly, the mentality of the team members were not up to standard. When they saw that their opponents had modified mechas, they became flustered and let the opponent shoot down a few more mecha. This lead to the difference in the number of mecha between the two sides to become very small.

“At the end, although many of their mecha operators attacked under cooperation, they are still allied battle teams. They are members of different military academies. They didn’t really trust each other and so they were unable to entrust their backs. They were still on guard even in the middle of their cooperation. Although it seemed as though it was 2 vs 1 and even 3 vs 1, in reality, it was just a changed up 1 vs 1. It isn’t hard to understand how the seven-man team defeated them.

“Regarding these three points, as long as they had compensated for one them, the outcome of this battle would have definitely been different.” Ling Xiao stopped for a few seconds, “That’s why I said the seven-man team was very lucky. All these reasons caused this victory. If had met up with a team from one military academy, the result would not be like this.”

Ling Xiao’s words made everyone present agree and nod their head. Seeing this, Ling Xiao let out a sigh of relief. He silently wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead—he had finally managed to decrease the influence of this matter to the lowest.

When it came to his beloved baby daughter, she would either not do anything, or do something that would shake the heavens. It was the same when she arrived at the military academy, and even more so now. Even if he was Ling Xiao, he was still having trouble enduring it all.

Ling Xiao’s simple and clear explanation made the vice president’s surprised heart calm down a bit. Ling Xiao was famous for being fair and just, never lying. He would definitely not be wrong. Thus, he nodded and said, “I also thought that this luck is too much, or it’s as though…” It was scary. It was as though he had been seeing another Ling Xiao.

Ling Xiao smiled and didn’t speak. Now he had to firmly attribute Ling Lan’s performance to luck. He only hoped that his own image he had spent many years creating would grant his excuses more credibility.

Although Ling Xiao had continued to downplay Ling Lan’s team’s performance with his words, in reality, deep in his mind, he wanted to tell everyone proudly that the leader of that team was his daughter. It was his daughter… With a daughter like this, he felt that this life was so worth it.

The division representatives on the sides all had perplexed expressions. Many of them quietly ordered their officers to find out detailed information on the small 7-man team. They, of course, believed what Ling Xiao had said, but luck was also a form of strength. For those seven to have been able to create this classic scene of defeating more with less, they were definitely exceptionally talented individuals. These representatives actually had a mission coming into the mecha tournament, and that mission was to try their best to dig out talents in order to increase the strength of their respective divisions.

Many of the division representatives looked upon the calm and collected General Ling Xiao with fear in their eyes. They all sincerely hoped that the performances of the cadets just now did not catch Ling Xiao’s eye, or else they wouldn’t be confident that they would be able to go against the idol of the entire army. At this moment, they fully understood the incredible charm of the idol. The exceptional seeds in their divisions would show a face of respect when hearing about Ling Xiao. These representatives believed that if Ling Xiao were to change up his division, there would be many people in their own divisions answering the call to go into Ling Xiao’s.

Fortunately, Ling Xiao was a just person and never thought of using such methods. They couldn’t help but be happy.

Perhaps Ling Xiao’s words had affected the judgment of the referee team. The referee rewound the scene many times to study it and came up with the same judgment as Ling Xiao. They believed that such a surprise effect was indeed due to many coincidences and luck-based elements. In short, the things they analyzed from all the details seemed to be logical and proven.

Ling Xiao didn’t look at these theories and data. As long as the referee team acknowledged what he had said, he didn’t care about the reason used to prove this point.

At this moment, Ling Lan appeared beside Li Lanfeng after seeing that both Li Lanfeng and Zhao Jun had successfully defeated their opponents one after another. She was just in time to intercept Li Lanfeng, whose mecha was falling forward because it had lost power and could not be controlled.

“How are you doing?” Ling Lan asked while frowning. Her voice was colder than normal.

Li Lanfeng knew that Ling Lan was angry, but he didn’t know why he felt amazing. He coughed heavily and replied after a while with great effort, “I’m not going to die.”

“You were messing around again.” Even if Ling Lan was angry, that had been Li Lanfeng’s choice. His path to advancement could not be stopped by Ling Lan.

Li Lanfeng smiled and looked at Ling Lan. He finally felt that this person beside him was no longer that far away. Li Lanfeng, who had used up all of his physical and spiritual energy, fainted amidst this feeling of satisfaction.

Ling Lan’s expression changed instantly. She quickly discovered this situation since she was using her spiritual power to monitor Li Lanfeng’s condition. She quickly yelled, “Come over here quick to save him Li Shiyu!”

After saying this, Ling Lan operated her mecha and laid Li Lanfeng’s mecha on the ground. She quickly opened the door of the cockpit and jumped right in. She got to Li Lanfeng’s cockpit. She found the passcode lock on the side of the cockpit door and quickly inputted a long string of password combinations. After a sound of a lock opening, Li Lanfeng’s cockpit was opened.

Ling Lan didn’t hesitate and went straight in. She first saw the bloodied control panel and her expression changed greatly. She turned her sights to Li Lanfeng in the seat. She found that Li Lanfeng’s eyes were closed shut and his breathing was slowly becoming weaker. Ling Lan was mortified. She quickly unbuckled Li Lanfeng’s safety belt and took Li Lanfeng out of the cockpit…

Li Shiyu had already retrieved the first-aid box and arrived. He saw Li Lanfeng’s unconscious condition in Ling Lan’s arms and was also mortified. He quickly walked up and held Li Lanfeng’s right wrist to feel his pulse. He found that his pulse was becoming weaker and weaker and knew that the situation was dire.

He quickly took out the emergency medicinal agent and pried open Li Lanfeng’s mouth, wanting to pour it into his throat. However, it seemed as though Li Lanfeng was in too much pain as he was gritting his teeth very firmly; the medicine was unable to be administered by mouth in that instant.

“Use a needle!” Ling Lan saw this and calmly reminded.

Li Shiyu quickly turned around, his fingers dancing about quickly as he immediately prepared an emergency shot. At the same time, Ling Lan unzipped Li Lanfeng’s protective suit and found that it had already been painted red by the blood on the inside. They couldn’t see even one piece of muscle that wasn’t damaged. The broken muscles and blood made for a motifying sight and made Ling Lan frown uncontrollably.

Li Shiyu took the needle, his left index finger quickly pressed on Li Lanfeng’s arm. After that, the needle had already accurately gone into the blood vessel and a dose of emergency medicine was shot into Li Lanfeng’s body. Very quickly, the originally disappearing pulse and breathing began to become stronger. This made Li Shiyu and Ling Lan instantly let out a sigh of relief.

Li Shiyu saw that Li Lanfeng life was no longer in danger, so he took out the support analysis machine and began to analyze the condition of Li Lanfeng’s body. He found that his condition was very bad. All of the motor functions of his body had broken down. He could only rest. In other words, Li Lanfeng no longer had the chance keep fighting.

After finding out everything about Li Lanfeng’s injuries, Li Shiyu then systematically gave Li Lanfeng shots that could heal him. When Li Lanfeng became stable, he would then report this situation to Ling Lan.

“With the medicine that we prepared, are you certain that you can cure Li Lanfeng?” After hearing about the situation, Ling Lan thought about it for a bit before asking Li Shiyu.

“Yes, but during the recovery time, Li Lanfeng can’t operate a mecha. Otherwise, the recoil from the mecha will destroy Li Lanfeng’s muscles again. It will be hard to control if that happens.” Li Shiyu was very confident in himself, but he spoke out his own worries. He then added, “Actually, the best choice would be to send Li Lanfeng to the area for those who are eliminated and let the medical team of the tournament treat him from all aspects. If they were to combine treatment pods with other treatment, then he would need only 2 to 3 days to fully recover.”

Ling Lan didn’t say anything. After a few seconds passed, Ling Lan then asked, “You mean that if you were the one who treated him, it would take more than two to three days?”

Li Shiyu smiled bitterly and said, “Without the treatment pod’s vacuum sealed anti-bacterial treatment, even if my medicines are amazing, the potency of the medicine would not be utilized to its full potential. If nothing went wrong, he would need a week’s time to fully recover. However, with this kind of weather…” He frowned and looked at how the snowy weather from hours before had now changed into mid-summer. It was so hot that it felt that each breath could burn up. This kind of extreme change in weather was definitely not fit for the injured to nurse their injuries.

“Would there be any unchangeable after-effects to Li Lanfeng’s body if we delay the time of treatment?” Ling Lan looked at Li Shiyu seriously. She had to know about this point very clearly.

“That won’t happen,” Li Shiyu said firmly.

Ling Lan got the answer she wanted. She then let Li Shiyu bandage up Li Lanfeng’s injuries. Li Shiyu was very fast. A few minutes later, he had finished bandaging up Li Lanfeng’s entire body.

Seeing that the treatment was done, Ling Lan walked out and picked up Li Lanfeng, who was now in deep sleep. She looked at Li Shiyu, who was now organizing the first-aid kit, thought for a bit and said, “Both you and Li Lanfeng operate balanced mecha. You will operate Li Lanfeng’s special-class mecha.”

These words dumbfounded Li Shiyu. He suddenly raised his head and looked towards Ling Lan. However, because of the sun, he couldn’t see Ling Lan expression. He only felt that Ling Lan was staring down at him with a heavy look, making him feel extremely pressured.

“Why?” Li Shiyu bit his lip and asked.

“Didn’t you advance to special-class operator? And Li Lanfeng can’t operate a mecha anymore. Then you will take Li Lanfeng’s place. This is the best arrangement,” Ling Lan replied calmly.

“How did you know I advanced to special-class operator?” Li Shiyu himself didn’t think that he would advance to special-class operator during battle. Originally, it was most dangerous to advance during battle. It was easy to be interrupted and even be killed while an individual was still getting used to the feeling of advancement. However, he was very lucky as due to Li Lanfeng’s help, he had successfully gotten past the most dangerous moment of advancement.

“If you hadn’t successfully advanced to special-class operator, how could you have consecutively helped Li Lanfeng get away from danger? Two special-class operators are not individuals that can be held back by one advanced mecha operator.” Having been watching the entire battle, of course she hadn’t missed the energy spike during the moment Li Shiyu had advanced.

“If it wasn’t for Li Lanfeng, you wouldn’t have even had a chance to advance. Thus, you should continue to battle in Li Lanfeng’s place!” After saying this, she kicked the ground and her entire body flew up into her cockpit.

Following a clicking sound, the cockpit door was then closed. She placed Li Lanfeng in her passenger seat. Right when she buckled him in firmly with the safety belt, she heard Qi Long ask worriedly, “Boss, is Li Lanfeng alright?” Seeing that Ling Lan had taken him into his own cockpit, they knew that Li Lanfeng situation was dire.

“It’s okay, he’s just in a state of recovery and can’t operate a mecha anymore,” Ling Lan responded calmly.

Perhaps Ling Lan’s tone was too calm, as Qi Long and the others instantly calmed their anxious thoughts. They thought that Li Lanfeng had only been slightly injured—they didn’t know that Li Lanfeng had been on the brink of death.

“Boss, are you going to take Li Lanfeng and continue the mission?” Xie Yi asked confusedly. “Shouldn’t we leave him here and let the staff members send him to the area for those who are eliminated?” Having been injured, wouldn’t it be better for the staff members of the mecha tournament to treat him?

“In my team, I won’t let anyone be left behind.” Ling Lan’s cold voice rang in everyone’s ears. “I never took the battle royale as a game. To me, this is a battlefield.”

Everyone shook. They didn’t think that Ling Lan would take the battle royale so seriously, to the point that he would consider the tournament to be a real battlefield. They felt ashamed of themselves. Compared to their boss, their thoughts were considered playing around. They always felt that this tournament was a tournament that didn’t have any possible dangers.

“I will not give up on any member of my team. I also hope you guys remember that in any situation, you shouldn’t abandon your teammates. I believe that Li Lanfeng wants to greet the victory of the battle royale together with us.” Ling Lan’s words shook everyone. Xie Yi felt even more ashamed of himself. Wasn’t what he suggested the same as leaving Li Lanfeng behind? After going to the elimination area, Li Lanfeng would be treated, but in reality, it would also mean that Li Lanfeng had been eliminated and sent out of the battle royale.

Li Shiyu looked at Ling Lan’s mecha that had already risen up into the air. Suddenly, he felt that he was really lucky to have joined Ling Lan’s team. With a responsible leader like this, its team members would definitely achieve greater heights than others. He didn’t hesitate any longer and jumped into Li Lanfeng’s cockpit. When he saw the control panel that was painted red by Li Lanfeng’s blood, he thought of Li Lanfeng’s bloodied fingers when he was bandaging him up.

Li Shiyu used his hand to wipe the control panel and his fingers immediately became stained by the thick blood. “In order to save me, you injured yourself to this degree without care. Why would you do that?”

Li Lanfeng gave him a familiar feeling. Familiar to the point that he could almost believe it was ‘that person’. If he didn’t clearly know that that person could never operate a mecha, he would have impulsively taken down Li Lanfeng’s mask just now to see what his real face looked like…

“Is it really as you said? That by being with him for too long, I end up subtly sharing the same temperament as he?” Li Shiyu began to wipe at the control panel and quickly returned it to its original silver-white color.

“However, why would you know my promise with him? Is it possible that you guys are so close that he would tell you about this?” Li Shiyu tightly held the cloth in his hand. “Or maybe, you are him…”

Li Shiyu closed his eyes. “No, I can’t guess randomly without evidence. He wouldn’t lie to me, he wouldn’t lie, he wouldn’t.” After feeling that he had calmed down, he then opened his eyes and smiled bitterly. “Whenever I come across matter that involves him, I can’t keep calm. Maybe I’ll find Li Lanfeng and talk to him. Perhaps, there are some questions he will be able to give me an answer to. That’ll be better than just thinking randomly.”

Li Shiyu took a deep breath and tossed Li Lanfeng’s matter to the back of his mind. He went back to getting used Li Lanfeng’s mecha. He had to thank the fact that he operated balanced mecha and that he talked to Li Lanfeng about operating every day. Also, he had entered Li Lanfeng’s mecha and watched him operate it first-hand before. All of this allowed him to get used to it quickly.

It should be said that in terms of mecha operating, the members of the Li family were very talented. After around 10 minutes, Li Shiyu had grasped around 70-80% of Li Lanfeng’s mecha. He was already carrying out some of the basic operations smoothly.

Right then, Ling Lan and the others were modifying their mecha. They had to thank Chang Xinyuan; he had invented a paint that could instantly cover up mecha. At this moment, Ling Lan and the others were comparing the logo on the Second Men’s Military Academy’s logo in order to recreate them.

Actually, all of mecha used for all the military academies had all the same shapes and colors. The only difference was the logo on their chest and Ling Lan was recreating said logo.

Ling Lan’s situation was constantly being shown on a small window on the screen in the monitoring room. The other people’s attention was probably drawn towards the battles of other military academies. Ling Xiao, who was watching Ling Lan all along, seemed to not care on the outside, but in reality, he was constantly paying attention to what his own daughter was doing.

When he saw that his daughter had picked up a boy like a princess, he almost lost control and crushed the teacup in his hand—man, he dared to take advantage of his daughter!

Ling Xiao definitely didn’t see that it was his daughter that held the boy like a princess and not his daughter being held up like a princess. In short, in Ling Xiao’s eyes, it was his daughter that was taken advantage of and not his daughter taking advantage of someone else.

Forget the fact that Ling Xiao was really angry. The odd movements of Ling Lan’s team were quickly noticed by the others. One of the division representatives yelled towards the staff member for the big screen, “Zoom and enhance the image of that seven-man battle team.”

The staff member quickly turned the image to Ling Lan and company. The big screen was instantly filled by Ling Lan’s team.

“What are they doing climbing onto their mechas? Can you zoom towards the chest area?” Because of the big screen, everyone saw Ling Lan’s odd movements and instantly became curious.

The image zoomed in again and finally focused on the chest area. A familiar logo came into view.

“Isn’t that the logo of the Second Men’s Military Academy? Aren’t these guys from the First Men’s Military Academy? Were we wrong and these guys are actually from the Second Men’s Military Academy?” Some people were confused by all this.

Yes, although they had cooperated with Qiao Ting the first time and helped relieve him of any suspicion, that didn’t mean that they were from the First Men’s Military Academy. The original logo had been covered up, to begin with; there wasn’t any clear evidence that could tell them their identity. They didn’t want to just accept that fact. Perhaps it was allied forces as well. Many military academies and referee began to rethink the situation.

“No, it can’t be the Second Men’s Military Academy. That logo is a fake.” Although the imitation was very similar, the material was different. If they looked closely, there would be a difference. Some of the people who had sharp eyes were able to see this difference.

“Fake? Holy sh*t. Don’t tell me they’re trying to sneak into the Second Men’s Military Academy’s headquarters. Who are these people? Isn’t this a bit too brave?” Many people were amazed at this fact, and even more people became more interested in this 7-man battle team. Without a doubt, they had an exceptional strategist with them.

Upon seeing this scene, Ling Xiao instantly cheered up… However, in order to successfully sneak in, just having the logo wouldn’t be enough. “What else does my daughter have up her sleeve?” Ling Xiao thought curiously.

“General, that seven-man battle team is led by Young Master Lan, isn’t it?” He Xuyang saw that most of the crowd had been drawn towards the 7-man battle team. They didn’t pay attention to them, thus he tilted his body to Ling Xiao and whispered in his ear.

Ling Xiao frowned as though he was asking. “How do you know?”

He Xuyang laughed silently and said, “Young Master Lan’s way of operating actually has similarities to you.” It wasn’t clear as to why the people here hadn’t discovered this point.

Ling Xiao smiled and nodded lightly to confirm He Xuyang’s guess. He Xuyang had received an answer that satisfied him. He sat up and thought, “Young Master Lan is really strong! The general actually has someone to inherit his will.”

By the time Li Shiyu had pretty much grasped how to handle Li Lanfeng’s mecha, Qi Long and the others had reached the end of the needed time for modifications. Ling Lan was now modifying the logo on Li Lanfeng’s mecha because she was quick and had already finished the logo on her own mecha long ago. When Ling Lan finished, she knew that everyone was ready and quickly led the five mecha away from their position.

Very quickly, the staff members moved to the scene. One of the staff members ran towards the advanced mecha that Ling Lan had left behind. He examined it carefully, but afterwards discouragingly reported to the monitoring room. “They destroyed all the logos on their mecha. There’s no way for us to determine which military academy they’re from. The A.I. has been locked up and the data has been erased. There’s no way to find anything regarding the seven-man battle team.”

Everyone who heard the report from the staff member were all nodding in admiration.

“They really are very careful. They even didn’t leave behind any information in the mecha they abandoned.”

“Impressive, really impressive. They even thought of a small detail like this. Their captain isn’t just brawns and no brains.”

“It could also be that they have an amazing strategist. However, we shouldn’t underestimate these cadets.”